


If You Want Your Ship to Sail it Might as Well Sink

by ObakeAri



Series: Sidlink Shenanigans [4]
Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Copious Amounts of Fluff, Fluff, M/M, SO MUCH FLUFF, Selectively Mute Link, Tumblr Prompts, all of those SidLink prompt requests that I've been getting?, hylian!sidon, like I said there's a lot of fluff in here, not necessarily in a chronological order, okay those last two tags really only apply to two chapters, otherwise I'd be reordering chapters daily, posting in the order that I got the asks, sidon worries about being a big king, they find masks, yeah I'm putting them here :D, zora sneezes, zora!link
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-28
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-11-20 13:04:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 33,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11336106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObakeAri/pseuds/ObakeAri
Summary: Like any hopeless couple, Link and Sidon fall in love. And with that love comes a special bond, a few children, and special moments that they might want to remember forever...and a few that they'd probably rather forget.(aka, these are all those tumblr prompts I've received and I'm finally doing good on my promise to put them on Ao3)





	1. Raspberry

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! And welcome to this drabble/one shot collection! Most of these prompts in the beginning come from my last request weekend on Memorial Day. Still gotta chug through a few buuuuuut. There'll be new ones that I'll add. A lot tie into my fic, Sidon's Epic Pining Adventure and its sequel but some don't. I hope you guys enjoy! 
> 
> This first prompt was requested by decaf-for-cutie who wanted Link and Sidon blowing raspberries on each other and being dorks.

Link enjoyed the small things in life. 

One of those things he loved so much was how vastly expansive his safe havens reached nowadays. As a boy, they were limited to wherever his music and his books could take him. While that was still the case, he had another, much more extensive one.

And that was wherever the Zora Prince wandered off to. 

On this particular day, Link found him inside the Divine Beast Vah Ruta, fiddling with one of the smaller control panels that had the elephant rather disgruntled that morning. Sidon was neither a mechanic nor was he particularly science-minded (languages and communication were definitely his strong suit as opposed to his reserved and analytical elder sister), but he tried his best anyhow. 

“Alright, Ruta, tell me if that helps you at all,” Sidon huffed, rising to his feet. It had appeared that Link had arrived just in time for the prince and champion to finally figure out how to switch the console back into the correct position as it turned from orange to blue and Ruta gave a pleased trumpet. 

Link smiled to himself, chuckling at how something so simple had taken Sidon multiple hours. Still, Link had to applaud him for his patience (although he wouldn’t have been surprised if the trumpeting he had heard earlier was Ruta’s end of a full-out shouting match). The Hylian crept up behind Sidon before he jumped on him, wrapping his arms around Sidon’s waist and causing Sidon to let out a yelp and nearly fall on Link. 

“Oh goodness!” Sidon gasped, flinching away from Link’s touch even when he calmed down. “Y-you startled me!”

Link flashed a smile and asked, “How are you doing?”

“Well,” Sidon placed his hands on his hips, “I think I finally found Ruta’s problem and they seem to be feeling better. And you?”

“I just came up to make sure you were doing alright,” Link chuckled as he signed. “And I have a bit of a break if you aren’t doing anything after this.”

“Oh well, I can always spare some time with you,” Sidon grinned. He then outstretched his hand and took hold of Link’s. “Come with me, there’s something I want to show you.”

Link followed Sidon out to the front of Ruta where the platform on its trunk was waiting for them. Sidon led them onto it and Ruta shifted its trunk back to a neutral position, the two of them still enjoying the platform. Link smiled in amusement. This had been Mipha’s favorite spot, though he wasn’t going to spoil Sidon’s fun by breaking the news to him that the view was familiar to him.

“This is probably my favorite view,” Sidon said, sitting down, his hand leaving Link’s hand and rubbing the small of his back. After a few moments, Link finally took a seat and reclined against his boyfriend, heaving a sigh. It wasn’t long before the two found their way onto their backs, Sidon supporting the back of his head with his arm and the other arm around Link who was curled up against his side, running his hand up and down the Zora’s belly. 

Link hummed in contentment before lifting his head. He rested his chin on Sidon and looked at the prince. His eyes had drifted closed, and even with his tail resting on the ground it gave a few content, drowsy flops. He could have stayed like this forever. 

That is, until a rather devious idea crept into his mind. 

He had been watching Sidon and Nami play a game of sorts the night before. Though it was less of a game and more of the silliest tickle fight Link had ever seen, and the mental image of Sidon holding Nami up, her limbs flailing helplessly as she laughed and shrieked while he blew raspberries on her tummy still made the Hylian chuckle to himself. 

Nami had sworn her revenge against her father after that. But...perhaps Link could give the girl a head start. 

He carefully lifted his head and torso, positioning himself over Sidon. He moved slowly, trying not to stir him too much, but nevertheless he saw those golden eyes flutter open just as he ducked his head down. “Link, what’re you--”

Sidon was cut off by the sounds of his own laughing as Link blew the biggest raspberry he could manage on him. And then again, and again. Link continued inhaling and pressing his lips against the zora’s belly until he was dizzy and Sidon’s laughter turned into yells and cackles, unable to control his helpless flailing. 

When Link finally stopped, he was so amused by the sounds Sidon had produced that he too started laughing, pressing his forehead against Sidon. Sidon heaved from residual laughter, trying to even out his breathing. When it finally did, Link looked back up, not trying to hide his giggles as he looked into Sidon’s eyes. 

When he saw that deadpan glare and the blown-out pupils, Link clamped his mouth shut. 

He realized too late that his idea had put a large target on his back. And he was Sidon’s new prey. 

“Now, Sidon…” Link sat up to his knees, trying to scoot away from the Zora. Sidon merely sat up, unmoving otherwise and continued staring Link down with those large, predatory eyes.

Aw, fuck. 

As fast as Sidon was in the water, his reflexes were just as powerful on land and before Link had even registered what was happening, Sidon had surged forward, tackled him to the ground and started blowing raspberries on him. His neck, his chest, his belly, everywhere that Sidon knew to be a ticklish spot on the Hylian and he did so without remorse.

“Sidon--! Sidon!!” Link heaved, trying to push the Zora off of him but to no avail. Sure, in a normal battle of strength, Link and Sidon were pretty evenly matched. But pinned down and subjected to the convulsions of ruthless tickling and raspberries? Link was little more than a helpless victim. 

What was worse was that with gills on his side as opposed to nostrils on his face, Sidon didn’t have to lift his head to breathe and give Link a reprieve. He just kept going. 

Link didn’t know if it could get any worse but then Sidon lifted his shirt and started blowing raspberries on his bare belly, hitting the ridges of his abs in just the right spot and  _ goddess above that was so much worse. _

“Pleeease!!” Link begged as tears seeped out of his eyes because he was laughing so hard. Sidon gave a grunt, pausing the action but not removing his lips from Link’s stomach as the Hylian panted and gasped for air. When Link could finally open his eyes he found Sidon staring him down, not apologetic in the slightest. Against his skin, Link could feel a smirk from his boyfriend. As Link’s breathing calmed he braced himself, taking advantage of the opportune moment when Sidon lifted his head for a second round of torture, pushing himself off the ground and tackling Sidon. 

He knocked the Zora off balance and the two tumbled, rolling around and grabbing at each other trying to pin the other down. The let out a series of shouts, grunts, and just flat out laughs as they grinned ear to ear in their not-so-serious wrestling match. Link managed to put Sidon in a half nelson, but all it took for Sidon to get out of it was stand up, lift Link on his feet, and flip them both over onto their backs. But because Sidon now had Link pinned down at an awkward angle, the smaller man was able to wriggle free no problem. 

But then...they rolled a little too far. 

Link had tried to leap up to his feet as Sidon made a grab for them, but there was a brief moment of free floating as Link realized his feet were not landing on solid ground and Sidon was leaned too far over the edge of Ruta’s trunk platform to keep from falling.

Annnnd down they went, screaming like maniacs. 

Thankfully, Link had managed to grab hold of his parasail and open it and Sidon grappled at Link’s waist, hugging it securely, though his weight swung them side to side dangerously like a pendulum before they settled into a gentle drifting along the air, floating down at a more reasonable speed. 

Link panted as his heart rate slowed after the adrenaline rush and Sidon heaved an over dramatic sigh of relief into Link’s back. After a moment, he felt Sidon’s shoulders shaking and heard soft chuckles coming from him.

“What?” Link asked.

“Only we would get ourselves into this mess,” Sidon laughed. Link spat out a laugh in response. He had a point. 

“New rule,” Link mumbled with a grin. 

“No tickle fights on Vah Ruta?” Sidon guessed. Link laughed at that, nodding to his boyfriend. Sidon sighed loudly again, shaking his head. “Well that’s all fine by me, but you’re going to have to remember to not  _ start _ tickle fights in the wrong places.”

“Yes, sir,” Link said. The two continued laughing quietly and Link felt his smile beam as Sidon pressed a kiss to his back.


	2. Mask

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sidon should just...never let Link or their daughter out of his sight. Otherwise they wind up finding a magical mask and it's not good for anyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should've mentioned in the last one that this fic was aptly named after someone who suggested that the ship name for SidLink had a severely missed opportunity by us not calling it "sink".
> 
> So. 
> 
> Yeah this next one was requested by an anon who wanted to see what would happen if Link and my OC Nami got their hands on some magic masks...
> 
> The inspiration behind Zora!Link's Design in this one is thanks to my good friend, Gaelfox over on tumblr!

Sidon stared at the Hylian and Zora in front of him with disbelief, completely beside himself. 

As Prince of the Zora and Hero of Hyrule, it was impossible for one of them to step up and be a stay-at-home dad full time, so they alternated as the situations saw fit. One would go off to fulfill whatever duty needed to be tended to, the other would stay put in the Domain and did what he could to work from home while watching over the kids. Of course, now that Nami was getting older she could on occasion leave the Domain with one of her dads. 

But this was the last time he let Link and Nami venture off without him.

“I’m going to ask this as carefully as I can,” Sidon pressed his hand to his brow, supporting the baby cradled in Mipha’s old sash with his other. “How the  _ hell  _ did this happen!?”

“Well,” The Zora in front of him coughed, reaching to scratched the back of his head but flinched when his fingers grazed the shimmering tail fading from blue to green, as if he hadn’t expected it to be there. Grimacing, he sighed and used his hands to communicate, “A merchant traded us these masks when Nami took interest in them...he said they were party masks but…”

“Daddy,” the little blue-haired Hylian blubbered, “Please help I can’t get it off!”

It took all of Sidon’s willpower to keep from breaking out into hysterics, the only thing keeping him from just screaming was one part the fact that Rhonin was napping in the sash fastened around his chest, to one part that he didn’t want to give Nami any more anxiety, to five parts his pure unadulterated rage towards his  _ genius _ of a husband who just. Took a couple of weird masks. Despite how well known mask magic was. From a merchant they didn’t know. Because why not?

Sidon licked the front of his teeth, waiting for Link to give a bit better explanation for how this had happened. His heart was still racing from the initial scare when two complete strangers just waltzed into the palace. Had it not been for Nami’s cries and the interesting color palate of Link’s scales that seemed to trace out the triforce on his forehead and the master sword on his chest, he feared he could have taken much longer to figure out that the two strangers were actually his husband and daughter in the complete wrong bodies. 

“I put the Zora mask on and then this happened,” Link grimaced as he signed, withering under Sidon’s glare. “It...okay, this is going to seem really weird but it felt familiar. Like I had done this before.”

“So you put it on and turned into a Zora,” Sidon smacked his hand to his face, “And you just let Minami put the other one on!?”

“I didn’t think it would huuuurt!” Nami whaled, and if it hadn’t been for the way Link’s heart visibly broke at the sound of their daughter crying, Sidon would have bitten his head off. 

“It hurt but it didn’t really bother me!” Link insisted, his own eyes starting to tear up with panic. “She just wanted to know what she would look like as a Hylian but I didn’t know it would hurt her as much as it did! Sidon please! I’m sorry! Just, please help me get this off of her!” 

Sidon let out a frustrated snort, placing his hand on his hip. The rippling of his gills stirred Rho finally and he glanced down at the innocent little boy with bright blue eyes so much like his Papa. The prince heaved a sigh, trying to calm down as he said, “Okay. It’s going to be fine. Can you take the Zora mask off, Link?”

Link nodded his head and hooked his thumbs around the back of his jaw. In a flash of light, Link pulled his hands forward and a mask suddenly came with them, his body shrinking down to the height that Sidon was used to seeing him at. A visible shudder ran up Link’s spin as he grimaced, shaking his head. 

Sidon pursed his lips and asked, “Did that hurt?”

“No,” Link grumbled. An obvious lie. 

“How bad?”

“It’s hard to tell,” Link signed after he set the mask on a table. “It definitely is uncomfortable but my body is kind of numb to it?”

“Hmmm,” Sidon pressed a finger to his chin, deep in thought. “Legend does tell that the Hero was once transformed by a terrible curse and dabbled in mask magic to regain his original form and defeat a great evil...perhaps you used such magic so much in one of your past lives that your body is used to the sensation?”

Sidon watched as Link’s brow furrow in thought, a faint glint of recognition glittering in his eyes before he shrugged, “You know more about the Hero’s past lives than even I do if that’s the case.”

“There are lots of history books in the Royal Library,” Sidon shrugged. “I know you hate reading about yourself but you and Zelda do take up a significant portion of those texts, I’ll have you know.”

Link’s head tilted to the side in indignation and Sidon turned to little Minami (she was so much smaller in this form!), kneeling down and wiping the tears off of her puffy red cheeks, “Now sweetie, you’ll be alright. Can you take the mask off just like Papa did?”

Minami started panicking all over again at the question and Link groaned, “Seeeee….about that…”

Sidon glared up at Link who shriveled under his gaze. “You tried that already didn’t you.”

Link nodded his head, signing, “It was...too hard to get it off. She was just in so much pain, Sidon.”

“Well we’re going to have to get it off somehow,” Sidon snapped. 

“I know that! That’s why I brought her back to the Domain so you could help me!” 

“Oh for heaven’s sake,” Sidon hissed. “Alright, let this be a lesson learned that we do not - under  _ any circumstances _ \- play with unknown magic or strange masks!”

“Yes, Daddy,” Nami whimpered, her nose ( _ she had a nose! _ ) turning bright red from all the built up sinus pressure in her head from crying ( _ she had sinuses!! _ ). She sniffled a few times before crying out again, “I’m so sorry!”

“Shhh, it’s okay, sweetheart, it’s not your fault, you didn’t know,” Sidon cooed. He ran his hands through her hair just as he would run them down her tail and assured. “Papa and I will get this mask off of you. It might hurt a bit, but it will be just like when we got that splinter out of your finger!”

Nami nodded tearfully, her expression indicating that she didn’t have much faith in them, asking, “Am I going to be a Hylian forever?”

“No no,” Sidon said, kissing the top of her head. 

“Will you still love me if I was stuck like this forever?” she asked, coughing up a few sobs. Sidon felt his heart sink and he pulled her into a hug. 

“Oohhh, sweetie, of course I will!” Sidon said gently. “Just look at your brother and idiot father!”

“Hey!”

“You let her put it on!” Sidon snapped. Link crossed his arms and let out a huff, not arguing with him. He let out a bemused snort and kissed his daughter again, “But you don’t have to worry about a thing. We’ll get this off of you.” 

Nami nodded tearfully and Sidon set her down on Link’s lap so he could hold her. He then adjusted Rhonin in the little sash so he was secure without being supported. Sidon took a breath and then asked, “Okay, what am I looking for?”

“Just place your fingers behind her jaw and you should feel a small ridge against the bone,” Link instructed. He then looped his arms around Nami, holding her securely. Sidon hummed contemplatively and gently palpated the jawline until he felt the small divot in her skin. 

“Aha,” Sidon mused. “Here we are. Now what?”

“Just pull it off,” Link signed with his arms still around Nami. The girl let out an anxious moan, leaning against Link with dread and Sidon heard his husband suck in a breath.

Oh dear. 

Sidon cringed, giving a gentle tug. 

He barely felt the mask budge when Nami started screaming, kicking her legs in pain and begging for Sidon to stop. He hadn’t realized that he had been holding his breath until he let go of the mask and fell backwards and gasped out the beginnings of a sob. 

Oh Goddesses, he had never heard her cry out in pain like this. 

Well...he  _ had _ …

She cried like that when she got that splinter, she cried like that when she fell down and scraped her knees. Honestly, her cries were nothing compared to when the Yiga clan nearly kidnapped her.

He was just an overgrown hatchling when it came to seeing his little girl in pain.

“Oh dear,” Sidon muttered, starting to panic all over again. “Oh no, Link what do we do!?”

“Calm down,” Link grumbled, glaring Sidon down as he rocked Minami gently, trying to calm her. “I’ll try.”

Sidon let out a nervous groan. When Nami had calmed down again Sidon sat down where Link had been and Nami climbed up onto his lap, taking deep breaths. He moved Rho over (who was being surprisingly complacent today, thank goodness) so he could secure his free arm around Nami’s waist. Link peppered the little girls with kisses and mutters of reassurance and love before he took a deep breath, sat back and said, “Okay.”

Minami started crying all over again, retreating into Sidon as she begged, “No, no, please don’t.”

“Nami, you can’t stay like this forever,” Sidon pleaded, fighting back his own panicked tears. 

“Yes I could!”

“Nami,” Link signed, “I know it hurts but we have to take it off.”

“Noooo!” Nami wailed. Link and Sidon exchanged a helpless glance for a moment before Nami cried out, “Can’t Zelda fix this!?”

“How?” Link asked her. 

“She-she’s good with magic!” Nami blubbered, “She could fix it! She fixed my splinter!” 

Sidon held back a groan. They still hadn’t heard the end of it when they had to take Minami to Zelda - less than a after the wedding when she was still at the Domain - all three of them in hysterical tears because Nami was hurting and the splinter was too small for Link to get at without accidentally pinching her skin with the tweezers and Sidon had been uselessly running around hysterical for the entirety of the time. 

Sidon wasn’t going to lose his composure this time. Or he would try not to. 

Link had forbid him from getting hysterical and leaving him alone to deal with situations like this after the splinter. 

“Minami,” Sidon started, “if we take you to Zelda she’s going to have to take the mask off just the same somehow.”

“What if I put the Zora mask on?”

“No!” Sidon and Link both screamed in a panic before they realized that they had startled the little girl all over again. “I-I mean,” Sidon coughed. “Mask magic is a fickle thing, there’s no telling what would happen if you wore two masks. Besides, won’t putting another mask on hurt the same as it did when you put the Hylian mask on?”

“But Daaaad!” Nami cried out. “I don’t know what else to do!”

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Sidon tried to reassure her, rocking slightly to try and sooth both children in his arms (Nami’s outburst had given little Rhonin a startle, unfortunately). “Let Papa try.” 

Nami groaned but turned her head to face Link, trembling. Link gave Sidon an uneasy glance and they both braced themselves as Link hooked his fingers around the mask, giving a stronger tug on the mask than Sidon had. 

Sidon could see and feel the start of Nami’s transformation as Link tried to pull it off. The screams and wails that left Nami’s throat rattled Sidon to his bones and caused Link to give up, the transformation stopping and she remained a Hylian once more. Sidon was trying so hard to keep his breathing even between Nami’s pained cries and now Rho’s startled ones. Link sat back, his breathing quick as he looked up to Sidon with tearful eyes. 

“WE’RE TAKING HER TO ZELDA!” Sidon finally proclaimed, rising to his feet abruptly with both kids in his arms.

“It’s a two day journey!” Link protested. Sidon shot Link a glare and snorted, grabbing the Zora mask and chucking it at Link.

“Not if we swim!” he snarled. “There’s a route that empties into the moat!”

“But--!”

“ _ Put the damn mask on! _ ” Sidon growled. Link heaved a sigh and grimaced as he placed it over his face. Sidon set Nami down and instructed her to ride on Link’s back to the castle and Sidon secured Rhonin onto his own and they swam swiftly but carefully to Hyrule Castle. Had it not been for the current stress of the situation, Sidon would have rolled on his back and enjoyed the giggles of his son as he looked around from his belly-down position, soothed by the gentle rocking of Sidon’s body bouncing in the river’s current. On occasion, Link’s lack of experience and the rocky currents caused him to have to grab onto Sidon’s leg and let himself be towed a distance into calmer waters. It was near sunset by the time they reached the castle and startled the guards, nearly having arrows shot in their direction.

“Sorry!” Sidon apologized, “We have a bit of an emergency and took the quickest route here!” 

The Hylian Guards looked rather skeptical at the strange, multicolored Zora but shrugged and noted that he  _ was _ with Prince Sidon. One broke away to announce his arrival to Zelda and she looked joyful (but a little perplexed) when she met them on the bridge. 

“Sidon what a surprise I wasn’t--” Zelda startled but paused mid sentence when her gaze fell on the strange Zora and the blue-haired Hylian with him. Her eyes flitted back to the Zora at Sidon’s side and snarled, “What the hell, Link.”

“I--” Link stammered, his tail curling upward behind him (which, okay, Sidon had to admit that it was pretty cute that his dolphin-like tail had an up and down motion contrasted to Sidon’s side-to-side swaying).

“Link and Minami found a couple of masks from a merchant,” Sidon grumbled. “And...changing Minami back is proving to be a bit of a chore.”

“Link!” Zelda gasped, glaring fiercely at him. 

“I didn’t know!” Link shouted back in defense. Zelda heaved a sigh and shook her head.

“Okay,” she sighed. “Have you tried taking it off?”

“Of course we have!” Sidon snarled back. “Do you think we would be here if taking the mask off wasn’t near impossible!?”

“Well how is it impossible?!” Zelda snapped. “It should come right off!”

“It hurts her!” Sidon’s voice nearly broke at the statement and he was a bit put off that the woman simply rolled her eyes at him.

“It’s a magic mask, Sidon,” Zelda smacked her hand to her face. “Of course it’s going to hurt.”

“Zelda please!” Link pleaded, looking pitiful. Sidon mentally noted that he was surprised at how his husband’s distress over the situation made him  _ more _ vocal of all things. “Heeelp!”

“You two are a pair of hopeless drama queens,” Zelda sounded almost amused as she spoke. “Honestly, how do you even manage with two children?”

Sidon wanted to retort back to her but realized it would do nothing but lead to endless bickering and delay her helping Minami at this point, so he kept quiet. She clapped her hands and smiled to Minami saying, “Okay, my sweet! Time to get you back to your normal self!”

“Thank you,” Nami heaved. 

Zelda took a few strides forward and knelt down to her height, smiling, “Okay, I know a special magic trick to get this off without it hurting, are you ready?”

Nami lit up at that statement, “Yes!” 

“Okay, here it goes,” Zelda started. “But first: close your eyes.”

Nami complied and closed them tightly, standing still as a statue. Sidon watched in horror as she moved her hands, hovering them over Nami’s jawline where the mask sat. She took a breath and asked, “Minami, what’s your favorite color?”

“It’s red, like my da--OWWW!” Nami broke her answer mid sentence, howling in pain as Zelda ripped the mask off of her face, the momentum of her retraction from Zelda pushing her to her bottom. Her body returned to normal in the blink of an eye and she looked up at Zelda through angry tears: “YOU SAID THAT WOULDN’T HURT!”

“Well are you hurting now?” Zelda asked with a smile, twirling the eye socket of the mask around her finger. 

“N-no,” Nami grumbled looking down. 

“And you’re all better!” she noted. Nami looked down at herself as she stood back up on her feet, her tail giving a small wag. 

“You’re right!” she announced, a smile growing on her features, “Thank you Aunt Zelda!” 

“Of course, sweetheart!” Zelda smiled back. “Now, you must be hungry, would you all like to stay for dinner?”

“Yeah!” Nami answered for her dads. 

Sidon looked at Zelda in disbelief, “How did you  _ do _ that!?”

“Sometimes, Prince Sidon,” Zelda grinned in bemusement, handing Link the Hylian mask while giving Sidon a firm pat on the chest, “you just have to put on your big boy pants and rip off the band-aid before you know what hit you.”

“Yes but…” Sidon started, but trailed off. She did have a point. Shaking his head, he changed topics: “So what should we do with these masks?”

“Well, I could take them off of your hands and to the research laboratories,” Zelda offered. She stole a glance back at Link who was examining the Hylian mask, his mammalian tail undulating up and down in place of the shark-like wag. She then looked up to Sidon who was not-so-discretely admiring his husband’s Zora form. “Or you could hold onto them. You two might find some...helpful uses to that magic.”

“Uh--” Sidon grunted, trying to force himself out of his trance. Goodness did Link look beautiful. His scales were a beautiful variation in different shades of gold, blue, and green, shimmering in the sunlight in ways he hadn’t seen before. 

And he was now up to Sidon’s shoulder in this form. Which made things much easier for holding hands, hugging, cuddling, and...other displays of affection.

However…

Link looked up and met Sidon’s gaze, taking a few steps towards the prince before he looked down at Rho, holding his arms out in an offering to take the little boy. Sidon started to lift him out of the sash, but the boy retreated towards Sidon, giving an apprehensive cry.

“Rhonin, little one, it’s just your Papa!” Sidon tried to sooth, but the baby continued to cry. 

“Link, I don’t think he recognizes you in that form,” Zelda mentioned. Link jumped in realization before he took the mask off in a hurry, shrinking down into the shape of that beautiful little Hylian he loved so dearly. He grinned as Rho’s cries died down and turned to happy babbles, reaching out towards Link. Link reached forward with the Zora mask in hand and Sidon flinched backward and let out a far from masculine shriek when the mask got dangerously close to the baby’s face. 

“PUT THAT DOWN!” Sidon yelled, now holding a giggling baby over his head. “No holding the baby unless all masks are  _ faaaaar _ out of reach!”

“Daddy, I think it’s fine,” Nami teased. “It’s too big for Rho’s face. Besides, it doesn’t hurt that bad.”

“You were  _ just _ crying about how much it hurts!” Sidon snapped back.

“Not when you take it off fast,” Nami shrugged. 

Sidon let out an indignant snarl, his gills flaring in frustration. 

Zelda’s lips quirked up into a pinched position, as if she were biting back a smile, silent for several beats before she suggested, “Shall I take the masks then?”

“Yes please, oh goddess yes,” Link and Sidon both rattled on mindlessly in agreement, shoving the masks as far away from them and into her arms as they could. 

She didn’t bother hiding her laugh as she motioned to Minami, “Come with me, you can see my lab and pick out a few books to bring home while your Dads recover from the trauma these masks have given them.”

Nami giggled, “I think they scared them more than they did me!”

“I would say so,” Zelda chirped. “You are a brave little girl. Much braver than those dorky fathers of yours!”

“Heeey!” Link droned, scowling at the princess, but Sidon shook his head and relented, holding Rhonin up to his face. The little boy smiled at him and placed his pudgy hands on his snout, babbling endlessly.

Sidon had to admit, he and Link kind of were helpless.


	3. Sign

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link and Sidon return from their honey moon and Minami has a surprise for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yet another request from my main fic. This one came from FantabulousFelix wanting to know about the first time Nami signed to Link! 
> 
> (And because I should have explained this: if anyone hasn't read my main fic it's called Sidon's Epic Pining Adventure and Sidon basically adopts a little Zora girl named Nami and she is my everything)

In the best of ways, Link still wasn’t quite used to referring to the Zora Prince as his husband. Their honeymoon had been full of pure bliss, doing nothing but sightseeing for the sake of sightseeing, reading for the sake of reading, and just enjoying each other’s company without feeling weighed down by the titles of Prince and Hero. It was a remarkable feeling, waking up to the gentle sounds of Sidon’s soft snores and sleepy purrs, his large head resting mostly face-down on Link’s chest (it was hard for a Zora to be anything but a stomach sleeper, though it didn’t seem that Sidon minded considering how fast he could fall asleep at the end of the day), arm curled around him securely. 

It was so much fun watching Sidon stir in the mornings too. First there would be the quiet rumble of a purr, then Sidon would turn his head more onto Link’s chest, arms and shoulders stretching ever so slightly as he hugged Link tighter, then a deep inhale coupled with the small shudders of a little tail wag (though Link found he could get a larger tail motion if he rubbed the back of his husband’s head), and then finally Sidon’s entire body would stretch and he would lift his head up with a big yawn, his lip curling back to reveal his sharp teeth. He would open his eyes, pupils trying to find focus as he rested his chin on the top of Link’s chest, giving a sleepy smile and mumbling, “Morning.”

“Morning,” Link smiled back, running his thumb and index finger along Sidon’s dorsal fin. 

“Oh goodness,” Sidon sighed contently, his eyes fluttering shut. “You’ll put me back to sleep if you keep doing that.”

Link chuckled, trying to sit up a little. Sidon groaned in response but lifted his body so the Hylian could sit up the rest of the way. He then reached up and cupped Sidon’s chin, pulling him down for a kiss. It was amusing, Link thought, Sidon was much more alert when he arose from his sleeping pool; the minute he opened his eyes he could leap out, maybe stretch his arms at most and then chipperly start his day no problem. But whenever Sidon stayed in Hateno with Link before, and sleeping beside Link during the honeymoon, though he was still just as much of a morning person he was definitely more groggy and took at least an hour to wake fully. Link couldn’t be sure what the difference was (he could guess that it partly had to do with the fact that the maniac actually liked sleeping in  _ cold _ water of all things), but gosh he sure was cute when he was sleepy. 

Link stood up and started getting dressed, changing into new boxers and fresh pants before he pulled his pajama shirt off. He heard Sidon hum before a large head pressed itself against Link’s back, an arm wrapping around his front. 

“Hey,” Link giggled, reaching back to pat Sidon on the head, “Get up.”

“Mmmm, just a few minutes more,” Sidon pleaded. Link turned around and Sidon wrapped another arm around him, lifting his head so his chin rested on Link’s belly and he could look up at Link. 

Link smiled and poked the little snout that rested between his husband’s bright gold eyes, “No.”

Sidon’s mouth turned up in a pout, “Oh but Link, I was so comfortable…”

Link bent down and kissed the top of Sidon’s crest, “Nami will be waiting.”

That perked Sidon up a bit more, his tail giving a wag just as Link knew it would. They had reached the conclusion of their special getaway and were only a half a day’s journey to the Zora Domain. Departing from his daughter for such a long period had been tough on Sidon, more so than either of them had anticipated and Link almost wondered if it would be better to call the vacation early. But Sidon had been insistent that they continue as planned - he had been looking forward to the trip too much and the last thing he wanted to do was spoil Link’s much earned reprieve, as he had put it - and by the end of it they had both realized that the decision was probably for the better. Besides, Minami had been excited to spend an extended period of time with Grandpa Dorephan and they couldn’t have possibly spoiled that for her.

Nevertheless, Link knew Sidon would be excited to return home and see her. Besides, he missed her too and while he may not have been a Zora, she felt like his flesh and blood just the same. 

Deep down, he truly hoped that one day he could talk to little Nami without a language barrier...but more than that he secretly hoped that she would look to him as a father one day as well.

Link and Sidon made most of the trip home hiking on foot with their hands intertwined and their fingers laced together. When they got closer to the Domain, Sidon suggested swimming the rest of the way so they paused for a quick bite to eat before Link secured all of their belongings, made sure the souvenirs were waterproofed, and hopped on his husband’s back. 

“You alright?” Link asked after a ways, hearing the sounds of Sidon’s panting. 

“Yes,” Sidon huffed. “It would seem that our vacation has rendered me a tad out of shape compared to usual. This is a much needed workout though.”

Link smiled, giving Sidon another kiss and a few words of encouragement and it seemed that Sidon’s pace had quickened suddenly. Before they knew it they had reached the entrance of the Domain and were greeted with a warm welcome fitting for a prince and his consort. It was no easy feat getting through the crowd that badgered them with questions and welcomes and songs of praise at their return home safe, but they were eventually able to break away in time for school to get out. 

“Minami is going to be so surprised when she sees us,” Sidon giggled, bouncing excitedly on his heels. 

“Yeah, we got here sooner than expected,” Link signed back. “We weren’t supposed to be here until dinner. Swimming was a good idea.”

“I am the fastest in the Domain,” Sidon grinned, puffing out his chest a little. Link snorted a little, his attention turning to the masses of children that were exiting the school building. Both he and Sidon fell silent as they scanned the crowd, looking for that slightly taller light blue head. 

Nami saw them first, grabbing their attention as she ran to them cheering, “DAAAAAAAAAAAD!”

“Come here, my sweet princess!” Sidon stooped down and lifted Nami into his arms so quickly that he tossed her into the air a little bit, their tails both wagging with enough speed to generate a wind tunnel they were so happy. Link couldn’t stop smiling at the sweet sight. Seeing Sidon hold Nami so tenderly, nuzzling his forehead against hers as she chatted endlessly about her day, her little arms looped around his neck, would forever be one of Link’s favorite things. 

Suddenly, she broke Link from his train of thought when she asked, “Wait! Where’s my other dad!? I gotta show him something!” 

Link felt his heart leap out of his chest. 

“Huh?” Link asked numbly as Sidon turned his head and flashed the brightest smile ever. Nami grinned just as wide and she clambered out of Sidon’s arms, running up to Link and barreling into him, knocking him off his feet. 

Nami was giggling like a madman and Link wasn’t much better. He sat up to give her a proper hug and started to speak what he could before Nami waved for him to stop, letting out an excited squeal.

Link gasped as Minami lifted her hands up and stuck her little tongue out in concentration as she slowly but fluidly signed, “Grandpa is helping me learn sign language better! I’m getting pretty good at it!” 

“Minami…” Link muttered, feeling tears well in his eyes. He didn’t have to look out of his periphery to see that Sidon had let out an emotional gasp and cupped his hands over his mouth, his tail wagging as much as Nami’s was. 

“I’m still slow but I’m getting the hang of it,” Nami signed, giggling. 

“Oh? Are you showing your Papa what King Dorephan has been teaching you, Princess?” Laflat asked as she passed by, smiling at the two newly weds. 

“Papa?” Sidon and Link both asked in confusion.

“It’s what she’s been calling Link since the wedding,” Laflat shrugged, her own tail giving a soft flip upwards. 

“Yes!” Nami signed, her little hand in a fist. “Because I have two dads now!”

“Oh, Nami,” Link choked, feeling a lump in his throat. 

“You’re so fluent now!” Sidon blubbered, not even trying to cover up his emotions, “I know Link and I have been teaching you some, but how did you learn so much so quickly?”

“Um…” Nami hummed, thinking hard as the language still wasn’t second nature for her, but she smiled as she continued signing, “I asked Grandpa to help me. We’ve only been talking with sign language since you left!”

“You did this,” Link started, his own hands dancing at a slower pace so Nami could follow along, “...for me?”

“Yep!” Nami grinned, speaking out loud again. “I mean, I know you guys would keep teaching me no matter what, but I really want to be able to talk to both my Daddy and my Papa without any trouble and Grandpa suggested helping me so I could surprise you when you got back!”

Link didn’t fully register that he was crying until he pulled his little girl in a hug and she patted his back. He peppered the side of her head with kisses before he finally stood up, taking hold of her hand. 

Minami looked up at Link and Sidon apprehensively, “...was that a good surprise?”

“Oh yes, Little One!” Sidon praised, reaching down to scoop Nami back up into his arms, “I am so proud of you! You’re almost fluent now!”

Nami giggled, smiling before she turned back to Link who could only beam at her and sign, “It’s the perfect surprise! Thank you, Nami!”

“Is it okay if I call you Papa?” Nami asked, her tail giving a swoop. “I can call you something else if you want…”

Link chuckled, standing on his tiptoes and prompting Sidon to bend down slightly so they both could give her a kiss before Link whispered in her ear, “Of course you can call me Papa.”


	4. The Day Nami Met Tulin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nami travels with Link and Sidon up to Rito Village for the first time. The sights are beautiful but she is not the biggest fan of the cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was requested by kingdavekura! They wanted to see how Nami and Tulin interacting would go and I gotta say these two make some adorable friends!

Nami shivered and took a deep breath through her mouth. 

She was learning quickly that she hated the cold. 

Sure, winters in the Domain could get rough, especially when the waters froze over but class wasn’t canceled because the waters were still swimmable. But cold water and cold air were too entirely different things, especially at high altitudes. 

But it was the furthest Minami had also traveled as well, and when Dad was sent to meet with the elder of the Rito at the same time that Link was tasked to rendezvous with the Champion of Vah Medoh, they both saw it as an opportunity for Nami to see another part of the world that she hadn’t been to before. 

Of course, for two  _ Zora _ to traverse all the way to the Tabantha Frontier, extensive preparations and precautions needed to be taken. Dad and Minami were both outfitted with thick parkas and special insulated armor. It was also the first time Nami had worn pants and shoes and she had to admit that Daddy looked really silly in boots and mitten with the end of his tail tucked under a scarf.

But the biggest thing Nami was having trouble with, however, was how the clothes she now wore made it hard for her to breathe since her gills were covered underneath several layers. Dad and Link kept telling her to breath through her mouth, but that was much easier said than done and hard to get used to.

“Sweetheart, are you alright?” Dad asked, turning back to her as she climbed the rest of the way up the hill. “Do you want me to carry you?”

“No, I’m okay,” Nami insisted. She had made it this far, why stop now?

“You’re doing very well,” Dad smile a twinkle in his eye. “But I’m very serious. It’s your first time out here and if you get tired at any point you let me or Link know.”

“Mmkay,” Nami nodded, gasping a little for air. 

“Hmmm,” Dad looked at Nami skeptically before he knelt down and started fiddling with her coat, “Let me just make sure this isn’t too tight around you.”

“Daaad,” Nami whined, “I’m fine!”

“I’m just making sure,” Dad insisted. “It’ll be easier to breathe if you close your gills.”

“Dad, no--”

“Minami, you’ll be miserable all weekend if you don’t,” Dad gave Nami a pointed glance. “I know it sounds counterintuitive but for as long as you leave them open you’ll just create a one way street for the air to run and you won’t get any oxygen into your system. You need to create a seal in order to breathe easier.”

Nami let out a grumble, flexing her sides so her gills shut tightly and while she had to admit that it was immediately easier to fill her lungs with air, she still wasn’t a fan of how weird it felt. 

“Don’t worry,” Dad kissed her forehead, “Where we are staying, they’ll keep the rooms so nice and warm that you’ll be able to take off those layers.”

“Mmkay,” Nami nodded. Dad gave her another kiss and Nami giggled. Around that time Link was jogging up to them, having disappeared for a moment to scout out the terrain. 

Link waved his hands back and forth in what Nami could only guess were signs but she could hardly tell what he was saying. Dad’s brow furrowed and he instructed, “Love, your mittens.”

“Oh,” Link grunted, pulling at the tops of his mittens and causing the cloth to fold back and create fingerless gloves. Starting over, Nami squinted her eyes to try and see what Link was saying. It was still hard to guess with only her novice skill level but it looked something along the lines of, “The terrain is too hard to cross. Teba is picking us up.”

“Can Medoh fly this low?” Dad asked. “This overpass is a little narrow.”

“He’s going to try,” Link shrugged as he signed. A gust of wind blew harshly, causing Nami to shiver uncontrollably. Dad too rubbed his arms as he hugged himself and shuddered.

“I must say, though Zora are far from being a cold-blooded species we still don’t adjust very well to drastic climate changes,” Dad noted.

“You okay?” Link asked out loud. He then looked down at the sound of Nami’s teeth chattering together and then took a knee, wrapping his arms around her. Nami huddled as close to Link as she could. Gosh, he was so warm. 

“Oh, yes, I’m fine,” Dad assured. “But this Little One sure is tough for putting up with the cold.”

“Yeah,” Link nodded, squeezing Nami tighter and she did not protest. “Almost there.”

“I hope so,” Nami shivered. 

Moments later a huge bird-like structured flew over the sky and Nami let out an audible gasp.

“My sweet Minami,” Dad said. “You know Vah Ruta quite well, now it is time to meet Divine Beast Vah Medoh.”

“Woaaaah!” Nami gasped, wrapping her arms around Link. “That’s so cool!” 

Surprisingly, Medoh was able to lower enough for the three of them to hop on, though it was a very tight fit and the sides of its wings did scrape against the cliff on the other side. Once it was in position, a tall white-feathered bird walked outside, its wings swinging side to side like arms.

Nami was both caught in awe and unable to close her mouth and the sadness that the added warmth was taken away when Link stood up to greet the giant bird. 

“Link!” the bird called out in a gruff, male voice. “Good to see you, my friend! Let me help you three!”

Nami gasped in amazement as the bird man leapt off the side of Medoh’s wing and swooped down, landing gracefully where they stood. He took hold of some of their belongings, slinging them over his back before he turned to Dad and introduced, “I am Teba, the appointed Champion of Medoh here.”

“And I am Prince Sidon of the Zora,” Dad dropped his head in a small greeting as he smiled, “As well as the Champion of Vah Ruta. It is good to finally meet you, Teba. I’ve heard many good things about you from Link.”

“Really?” Teba laughed before saying gruffly, “Well, I’m flattered. Here I just thought people thought of me as a hard ass.”

There was a sputter when his gaze fell to Nami and he covered his beak. “Oh, sorry for my language, Princess. And what is your name?”

“Minami,” Nami said politely, giving a smile to the bird man but still finding herself stepping behind Dad’s leg slightly. 

“Well it’s an honor to meet you,” Teba leaned forward in a small bow. “I have a son about your age, Princess Minami, he’s been excited to meet you but you’ll have to forgive him. He’s never met a Zora before.”

“Well I’ve never met a Rito before so it’ll be new for both of us,” Nami pointed out, squeezing Dad’s boot slightly. 

She heard Dad and Link both chuckling as Teba looked up at them and noted, “She’s cute.”

“Yes, I find that she is quite a sweet little girl,” Dad smiled down at Nami. He then stooped down and said, “Okay, but if we are boarding this beast I am going to have to carry you.”

“Ahhhh, but Daaaad,” Nami groaned. 

“What?” Dad scoffed. “When we’re home you want to do nothing but sit in my arms and when we traverse outside of the Domain you refuse to let me carry you, why is that?”

“Because I wanna see everything!” Minami groaned as Dad scooped her up. 

“I would think that seeing from my height would give you a better view,” Dad guessed. Link nodded in agreement. Nami crossed her arms with a huff and they climbed onto the beast. Within a matter of minutes they were in Rito Village and Dad let her walk around on her own accord, but it didn’t take long for her curiosity to get the best of her.

Rito Village was  _ nothing _ like the Domain. It was so high up, and so windy, and-and cool! Nami ran along the boarded paths, leaping onto one of the ledges to get a better view. Unfortunately, when she turned around, the crimson scales that she had been keeping tabs on had disappeared. 

Oh no.

“...Daaaaad?” Nami called out, walking along the path feeling her heartbeat quicken and her eyes well up with tears and panic.

Oh no. 

Before she could break out into hysterics, a tiny voice called out to her, “Woooah! Are you a Zora?!”

Nami whipped her head around to see a tiny bird boy standing at about her height, his feathers white like Teba’s and his little beak seemingly turned up in a smile.

“Yeah,” Nami said, kicking the ground. 

“Wow!” The bird boy cheered, running up to Nami and walking circles around her, plucking her tail out from her scarf and examining her up and down before, “Dad said that Zora and Rito are closely related but we look nothing alike!” 

“Stop it,” Nami groaned in annoyance, swatting his wing away when he poked at her barbel, “That hurts.”

“Oh!” the bird boy covered his beak with his...feathers? Hands? “I’m so sorry! I just got so excited, I...I’ve never seen a Zora before!”

“That’s okay,” Nami sighed, forcing herself to stay calm. Oh man, Dad wasn’t going to be happy with her. “Can you help me find my dad? He’s a Zora too. Super tall. Red.”

“Oh yes!” the bird boy nodded emphatically, taking hold of Nami’s hand. “He’s the prince, right? With the Hero?”

“Yeah! That’s him!” Nami grinned, her tail giving a wag. 

“Yes! My dad is taking them to meet with Elder Kaneli!” the bird boy said. “Come on!”

“Okay!” Nami said, following quickly behind, “Thank you!” 

The two children giggled as the dodged and weaved through the other adult Rito, walking through the village. After a few moments, the bird boy turned to Nami and said, “My name is Tulin!”

“I’m Nami,” Nami grinned. 

“So if your dad is the prince,” Tulin started, “Does that make you the princess? That’s so cool!” 

“It does!” Nami nodded. “Is your dad Teba?”

“Uh-huh!” Tulin chirped. “He’s one of the greatest warriors of all the Rito! One day, I wanna be just like him and Revali!”

“Who is Revali?” Nami asked.

“He was the Champion before the Great Calamity,” Tulin explained, his crest flaring upwards slightly in what Nami guessed was excitement - not too dissimilar to how Zora tails tended to wag subconsciously. “He was the greatest Rito of all time! I hope I become a warrior that makes him proud one day.”

Nami felt her brow furrow. She had heard many stories from Link about the previous Champions, but none of the ones about the Rito Champion were nearly so glamorous, “But I thought Revali was a…”

Seeing the wondrous look in Tulin’s eyes closed Nami’s mouth shut tightly until she needed to breathe again. It was obvious that he idolized the Champion Revali and she didn’t quite have the heart to tell him that - at least according to Link - Revali was a word that started with the letter ‘d’, rhymed with stick, and Nami wasn’t allowed to say. She didn’t want to steal his thunder. 

Instead, Nami looked thoughtfully up to where Medoh was circling the village peacefully and said, “My aunt was the Champion before Dad…”

“Wow,” Tulin gasped in awe. “That’s so cool! Your aunt must be really old!”

“Well she would be I guess,” Nami felt her brow furrow in annoyance but figured she would be just as naive if she were the one asking Tulin questions (okay, she knew she would be because she had at least five about how the Rito’s weird wing-hands worked). “Zora can live for a long time.” 

“Woooow,” Tulin smiled. “So is your dad old too?”

“He’s over a hundred, I know,” Nami shrugged. “But that’s still young for us.”

“That’s so cool!” Tulin cheered excitedly. “I’m sorry if I’m annoying, my dad told me not to ask too many questions because that would be rude. I’m just so excited to meet you!” 

“That’s okay,” Nami smiled. “But if you want to hear about someone really old, you should meet my Grandpa! He’s like...almost three hundred!”

“What!?” Tulin gasped. “That’s ancient for us!”

“There are some even older Zora who are over three hundred and fifty!”

“That’s crazy!” 

Nami giggled at Tulin’s excitement, “So how long do Rito usually live?”

“Um,” Tulin thought about that for a moment. “Well I know Rito can live to be pretty old too but for the most part we have a similar life span to Hylians.”

“Oh that’s cool,” Nami nodded. She kept looking down at the wing-hand that was holding her hand. “So how do your wings work like hands?”

“Huh?” Tulin looked at her, “Oh, well they are hands! Look!”

Tulin let go of Nami and held his hand(?) up to show her, flexing his fingers as he continued, “Our hands just have thick feathers to help with flight. And we have an extra bones to make our arms wider, but everything is just mostly feathers on our arms. You can touch it if you want.”

Nami gasped in awe as she pressed her hand against the very soft feathers of Tulin’s arm and he was right: by the time she found skin and muscle, while his arm was definitely wider than hers it was still much skinnier than it appeared. 

“Yeah, so when we fly we can just hold our arms out and the wind picks us up,” Tulin explained. “Plus our bones are hollow like regular birds and that helps a lot.”

“Wooooow,” Nami grinned, feeling her tail wag in amazement. Tulin gasped. 

“So how does your tail move like that?” Tulin asked.

“Oh! We have like this...extra nerve on the back of our head like a spinal cord,” Nami smiled as she explained. She told him about how her tail worked and how it helped her swim and then she asked Tulin another question and the two kept bouncing back and forth and having such a good time that Nami completely forgot that she needed to find Dad until it was too late.

“Minami!” he called out, running up to the children and looking very upset. “Where have you been!?”

“Oh!” Nami felt herself freeze, and not because she was cold. “I-I’m sorry, Dad! I got lost and--I’m sorry!”

“I told you that you needed to stay with me at all times,” Dad snorted, baring his teeth a little. Nami withered under his gaze. Dad heaved a sigh and knelt down to place his hands on her shoulders. “We’re in a new place and you really scared me. I thought something bad happened. We’ve been looking all over for you.”

“Weren’t you with Elder Kaneli…?” Nami asked, feeling her eyes water with guilt. 

“No we haven’t seen him yet,” Dad sighed impatiently. 

“I’m sorry,” Nami muttered. Oh great, now she was holding Dad up too. 

“I-it was my fault, Mister!” Tulin suddenly interjected. Dad turned his head to face the boy who insisted, “she asked me to take her to you and--I’ve never met a Zora before and I was asking her so many questions I--I’m so sorry, Prince!”

Tulin finished his explanation with a deep bow and Dad tiled his head to the side curiously as Teba and Link ran up to them. 

“Well, I see she found my son at least,” Teba noted. “Tulin, what did I tell you about showing our guests respect?”

“I’m sorry!”

“No, no, it’s okay!” Nami insisted, looking at Teba. “We both had a lot of questions because this is so new! We both got distracted and we’re really sorry!”

Behind Dad, Link broke out into a fit of amused snickers. Teba grunted in thought. Link smiled and tapped Teba and Dad on the shoulders, signing, “It’s all okay. They made friends!”

Teba grunted again in what Nami could only guess was agreement and Dad broke out into a huge smile, “Yes, you are very right, my Love. Have you two had fun together?”

Nami and Tulin both jumped at the question, exchanged glances before they turned back to Dad and announced, “Yeah!” 

“Good, I’m glad,” Dad’s warm smile returned. “Minami, I know you’re excited but I need you to stay close to me or whoever is watching you this weekend. We’re in a new place and its dangerous to wander off, do you understand?”

“Yes, Daddy,” Nami nodded. “I won’t do it again.”

“Good girl,” Dad wrapped little Nami in a hug and their tails wagged in unison. He released Nami of the hug before he turned to Tulin and said, “Tulin, my boy, I’ve heard excellent things about you from your father. Thank you so much for welcoming my daughter so warmly. Do you think you can keep a close watch over her and keep her safe during our stay?”

“Of course, sir!” Tulin cheered. 

“Good man,” Teba nodded to his son. “It’s part of your training this weekend as a warrior to guard to look after the Princess.”

“I’m ready, Dad!” 

“Good,” Teba chuckled. “Well, we can all visit with Kaneli first and then my wife should have dinner ready when we get home.”

“Sounds excellent,” Dad nodded. “Thank you so much for your hospitality.”

Nami and Tulin followed their parents to the elder, chatting with each other endlessly. A couple of times they fell too far behind and Link turned his head and called for them to pick up the pace. Each time they would giggle and apologize and on more than one occasion Nami saw at least one of the three men in front of them shaking their heads and laughing. 

The two children looked to each other and giggled. Minami could tell already that the two would be fast friends.


	5. Sneeze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link never contemplated if or how a Zora could sneeze. Or even what it would sound like. 
> 
> But it was the greatest damn thing he had ever heard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This request came from an anon on tumblr wanting to read something about Link noticing the small things about Sidon, an a Zora sneeze was one of the ideas amongst that list and I couldn't resist the opportunity!

With the flowers in bloom, Hyrule looked as if it had been born again, basking in rays of every color known to the eye. For Link, it was a little slice of heaven. 

For Sidon, well...Link didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of the possibility, but he didn’t think that Zora could possibly have allergies. 

He also didn’t realize that they could sneeze. 

It was kind of funny though, while Hylian allergies were completely related to sinuses and runny noses, Sidon’s allergies seemed to be triggered purely by proximity and left him scratching at his sides, the insides of his gills looking a little irritated. 

“I’m so sorry, Link, I do enjoy the view, truly. It’s just the pollen for some reason is irritating me,” Sidon apologized again, sniffling. While his face scrunched up just like a Hylian’s would when he did so, his flexed outward while the ends curled around the openings to protect his lungs from any more pollen that could seep through. It really was fascinating to think about; Link was long familiar with the variety of instinctual noises that a Zora could make from their content purrs all the way to their grunts, snorts, growls and roars. He had just never thought about how many of those sounds actually came from the gills. True, some very obviously came from the back of the throat, but there were definitely some snorts that Sidon had been prone to make that came out when he was in the middle of speaking. Those must’ve come from his gills. 

But sneezes, Link had no clue where those would come from, if they happened at all.

He learned almost immediately after the thought occurred to him because as Sidon tried to sit down he inhaled sharply from his mouth, his face contorting just as anyone else’s did before the sneeze. 

“Ahh-aaahhh,” Sidon gasped, and Link prematurely flinched, expecting his sneeze to shake the earth as much as his furious roars did in the heat of battle. 

When Sidon pitched forward, however, his voice let out one more loud pre-sneeze gasp but the sneeze itself was the tiniest, quietest little squeak Link had ever heard in his life. His gills pushed out air so fast that they sounded like a quickly deflating balloon. They also flexed completely - more so than they ever had when Sidon flared them - making Sidon look three times wider and rounder than he actually was. His tail stuck straight out on reflex. He then inhaled again for another sneeze and the same quiet little whistle left his gills. When his tail finally relaxed Sidon looked up, his snout scrunching slightly in discontent and he sniffled again before looking over to Link as if the sudden action had been an everyday occurrence. 

Whether it was from the shock of how that did not go anywhere near what Link would have guessed or because what actually happened was so damn cute, Link did not know, but for whatever the reason the Hylian doubled over laughing.

“What?” Sidon asked, looking a little miffed. 

It took several minutes for Link to calm down enough before he could lift his hands from his own sides and sign, “That was just the cutest thing!”

“My...sneeze?” Sidon asked. “It’s no different than any other sneeze.”

“No, no!” Link cackled, trying to form the words on his hands, “Hylian sneezes are nothing like that!” 

“Oh,” Sidon looked down in thought. “Well...I suppose you have a point considering that you breathe through your noses. Would your sneezes be more vocal, then?”

Link giggled, nodding his head. 

Sidon gave a small smile, his tail wagging a little, “Now  _ that _ is the cutest thing I have ever heard.”

Link had calmed down from his laughing fit enough to give Sidon a quizzical stare and sign, “Actually, Hylian sneezes can be really loud...and a bit annoying.”

Sidon chuckled, his smile growing. “I was talking about your giggles.”

Any residual laughter stopped in his chest and Link felt his ears turn a bright red. Sidon smiled even wider, his tail wagging pretty consistently for several beats before it stiffened again. 

“You going to sneeze?” Link guessed, his grin returning. Sidon couldn’t answer but this time Link watched his tail as it lifted further and further up (he didn’t know his tail muscles could flex that direction!) with each inhale. And then Sidon pitched forward again and then  _ ‘squeeeeeee!’ _ there came that cute whistle again and Link was rolling in the field of flowers laughing. 

He felt bad for Sidon, he really did. But even so, Link learned that day that Zora sneezes were probably one of his favorite sounds.


	6. Breakfast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nami tries to make breakfast for Link and Sidon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Requested by dragon-on-pineapples! 
> 
> Also a continuation of Chapter 3!

Sidon inhaled deeply, his eyes fluttering open. 

The instincts of a Zora were a powerful thing not to be trifled with. They were both a blessing and a curse, depending on how you looked at them. They could put you on high alert for no reason in particular other than Something Just Didn’t Feel Right ™, but they could also tell you when something was amiss. 

And something was definitely amiss this morning. 

Sidon blinked the sleep out of his eyes as he lifted his head, sitting up. There was really no indication that anything was wrong from inside the closed door of their bedroom (normally Sidon liked to keep it open if Nami needed anything but...well...it was their first night back home after the honeymoon and there had been some unfinished...business to tend to) but somehow Sidon could just  _ tell _ .

Link eyes fluttered open, beautiful and blue and struggling to focus as he opened his mouth to yawn. 

“Oh, sorry, Love, did I wake you?” Sidon asked. Link responded by lazily lifting his hands up and pulling Sidon down against his chest. 

“Yer warm,” Link hummed, smacking his lips together. Normally Sidon would have purred contently and drifted back to sleep, but the gnawing feeling in the back of his mind kept his eyes wide open. 

“Link, I sense that something is wrong, I need to get up,” Sidon insisted. Link groaned but released his husband and then sat up himself.

“What?” Link asked.

“I don’t know,” Sidon shrugged. 

That’s when the smell hit him. 

The smelly smell of something burning. 

Without thinking or waiting for Link to put pants on Sidon leapt out of bed and sprinted out of the bedroom, sliding to a stop when he saw the state of the kitchen.

Flour and batter was everywhere. 

Fish were stacked up in the frying pain. An eel that Link was saving for dinner was strung over one of the chairs. 

There was not one, but two fires in the sink (how did a fire start in the sink!?)

And standing there, in the middle of it all, was one miss Minami grinning like a madman. 

Sidon gaped at the sight before him, having to turn and rub his eyes with his hands before looking back to make sure he wasn’t just dreaming this whole situation up. 

Nope. It was still there. 

Link stumbled into the kitchen, zipping his pants up but still standing shirtless with his hair strewn about. He stopped dead in his tracks, a look of horror surpassing even Sidon’s as he gasped, “Minami!” 

“I made breakfast!” Nami cheered, sounding rather nervous. “Or...I tried.”

“Oh dear,” Sidon muttered. The sight of his daughter’s smile falling forced Sidon to regain his composure and choke, “I-I mean, oh Minami, that’s super sweet of you!”

“The kitchen is ruined,” Link whispered, his cheeks paper white. 

“I-I’m sorry I made a mess,” Nami scratched the back of her head. “I wanted to surprise you but I’m too small to reach the stove...and...everything else by myself I guess.”

“The kitchen is ruined,” Link muttered again, a little louder and his eyes turning bloodshot. He spoke at a volume just loud enough for Nami to almost hear him and her tail drooped and guilt flooded her sweet golden eyes. Sidon stiffened and cleared his throat loudly.

“That is so sweet of you, Minami!” Sidon smiled, trying to will his tail to wag. He examined the state of the kitchen and suggested, “How about we clean this mess up and enjoy a nice hearty meal as a family, yeah?”

“Okay,” Nami smiled warily. “I really am sorry.”

“The kitchen is--OW!” Link started again but Sidon elbowed him in the side, hard. 

“It’s nothing that can’t be cleaned! Your heart comes from such a sweet and caring place and that’s what counts,” Sidon smiled, stooping down and gesturing for Nami to come forward so he could pick her up. He lifted her into his arms and gave her a small raspberry on the cheek, earning a series of squeals from her, “But perhaps next time if you want to try cooking, why don’t you ask Papa to show you how to use the kitchen?”

“Mmkay.”

“Good girl,” Sidon nuzzled the side of her head and Nami purred in response. He then set her down and asked, “Could you be a dear and go to the closet where we keep the mop and everything?”

“Okay!” Nami smiled, running out of the room. Sidon watched her go, suddenly feeling drained by his surroundings and not finding the energy to stand back to his feet. Instead he turned to his husband who was breathing shallowly as if he were about to break out into a full blown panic.

“Link, calm down,” Sidon said. “She meant no harm.”

“But Sidon,” Link hissed. “The kitchen is ruined!”

Instead of letting himself agree with Link and join in the panic, Sidon forced himself to think about a different, intriguing question: “How is it that you speak so freely when you are so distraught? I would think that the opposite would be the case.”

“Who the fuck knows, Sidon!?” Link snapped. “When can I ever speak when it’s fucking useful!?”

“Okay, okay, calm down, Love,” Sidon insisted. “We’ll get this cleaned up. It’s okay.”

Link took a deep breath and sighed, his shoulders sagging and his ears drooping a little. He nodded his head and Sidon couldn’t help but smile at how cute his husband was, even if he was mad about the state of his favorite room in the house. 

There was a snap, crackle and pop behind Sidon, causing the two men to flinch and Sidon whipped his head around to see a third fire somehow starting in the sink. 

Okay so maybe the kitchen was ruined.

“This might not be a bad time to take my father up on his offer for us to move back into the palace,” Sidon said weakly. Link could only silently nod in agreement. 


	7. Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sidon worries about what would happen if he ever grew to be as large as his father. 
> 
> He worries a little too much

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Requested by decaf-for-cutie and inspired by dratinimartini's Big King Tiny King AU! That concept is basically canon in my mind and I love it. 
> 
> And I imagine Sidon would be very anxious about what Link would think if he had to put up with being tiny king.

Sidon woke with a start, sitting up suddenly, gasping for air. 

He hadn’t realized that he had screamed as he awoke, nor did he realize that he was crying until Link’s body followed him, wrapping small yet strong arms around his waist and hushing him gently.

“Shhh, it’s okay,” Link whispered, rubbing his back. Sidon heaved, trying to level his breathing but to no avail. The dream had been so real, so...so possible to come true, even now as he surveyed his surroundings and found himself in Hateno within the comfort of Link’s home. 

“Oh, Link,” Sidon wept, ducking his head into the Hylian’s chest. This was so foolish. It was only their first night together as a couple, officially, and here he was already plagued with nightmares of an unfortunate future triggered by nothing more than the simple fact that it took them a full forty minutes to find a comfortable sleeping position despite their almost comical size difference and Sidon’s oddly shaped head even for a Zora. 

“You’re okay,” Link whispered again. Sidon let his head fall into Link’s lap face-down and Link placed a small kiss on his tail, hand still rubbing his back. 

“I’m sorry,” Sidon took a deep breath once he had calmed himself. He lifted his head and turned to his side, somehow finding a way to position his head on his boyfriend’s lap that was somewhat comfortable. He took another breath, his gills stretching with his lungs. “I...I don’t know why that nightmare upset me so much, it was so  _ stupid _ .”

“Tell me,” Link said softly. Sidon looked up at Link and hummed in discontent.

“About the dream?” Sidon asked. Link nodded, sitting back a little and Sidon moved up to lay on his chest again, listening to the sound of his strong heart beating. “Oh, Link, I don’t know...you’ll either think it’s stupid or want to leave me…”

Sidon was glad it was too dark for Link to sign the choice words he probably had in response when he felt that not-painful-but-still-very-much-intended-to-show-how-insulted-Link-was-by-the-statement swat land across the side of his crest.

“Ow!” Sidon let out a growl. “Okay, I’m sorry for being presumptuous it’s just...Link...you’ve met my father…”

“Yes,” Link droned. 

“And you’ve seen how...large he is,” Sidon choked out. Link gave a grunt of affirmation, sounding uncertain of his train of thought so Sidon swallowed a lump and continued, “It’s just that...you have the right to know if I’m going to court you...Link, the royal family has long had this genetic trait for gigantism. And it’s only gotten worse through the generations.”

Sidon could hear the pace of Link’s heart pick up and he ran a hand through his tail, sighing, “Sidon…”

“But because my father married my mother who was from an entirely different clan and a  _ Shark Zora _ , no less, it was uncertain whether my sister and I had inherited that trait as well,” Sidon sighed. He felt his eyes watering all over again as he continued, “It doesn’t really start affecting a Zora until they’re well past 150 years and the growth is slow but...oh Goddess Above, Link, what if I’m affected? I already tower over everyone as is and it took us so long to even find a position to sleep in and--Link, how are we even going to be intimate as is!? Much less if I’m the size of your  _ house!” _

“Sidon, it’s okay--”

“No it’s not, Link!” Sidon lifted his head, the tears flowing freely. “If you stayed with me and I got to that size, I could seriously hurt you! I could hurt Nami! Oh Heavens, I wouldn’t even be able to hold my  _ grandchildren _ by the time they came around! I--!”

“SIDON!” Link sat up swiftly and grabbed both sides of Sidon’s face, squishing his cheeks and staring intently into his eyes. “You aren’t going to hurt anyone and I’m not going to leave you.”

Sidon coughed up a sob, laying back down into Link’s chest as he cried. He didn’t even know this was a thing he was anxious about and yet, here he was, after heinous miscommunication and just barely starting a relationship revealing something that apparently made him nervous enough to lose sleep over it. How unbecoming of him. 

“Sidon, you’re so beautiful and kind and positive and amazing,” Link whispered, his finger tracing lines and circles along Sidon’s back and shoulders. “I’m going to love you no matter what size you are. It’s okay. You’re okay. We’ll figure this out as we go, don’t worry.”

Sidon nodded, holding onto Link tightly and he wasn’t sure when he realized it, but the realization in itself was enough to dry his eyes and bring a smile to his face. 

Link was speaking. 

Sidon nuzzled Link’s chest and took a deep breath as Link continued dishing out compliments; his voice sounded like something befitting of a god or an angel it was so beautiful. Sure he had heard Link’s short phrases or angry spit-fire plenty of times, he had even been blessed to have heard one or two sentences, but this was an entirely different experience altogether. Here, laying in the dark, Link spoke with a rhythm that made every word sound like a velvet song, his voice unrestrained by the constricting of his vocal chords and the weight of his vow as a Hero. Sidon closed his eyes, trying to memorize every word that danced out of his lips and silk tongue, he tried to memorize that beautiful tone and his clear annunciation. 

“...Did you fall asleep?” Link chuckled after his voice had trailed off. Sidon hummed in content. 

“No,” Sidon said. “Sorry, I was listening I just...your voice is so beautiful.”

Link gave a dry chuckle, almost mixed with a scoff, “Yeah for a mute I guess.”

Sidon lifted his head at that, resting his chin on Link and noting, “Well I’ve never heard a true mute talk so much or with such a song-like rhythm.”

Link’s hand froze and his muscles stiffened, eyes widening. Sidon heard his heart stop in his chest and the prince kicked himself mentally for even pointing it out to him. But just as he began to worry, Sidon felt that small hand trail up before it  flattened and rested firmly on the base of his neck and Link smiled. “Heh. I guess you’re right.”

Sidon felt his tail wagging as Link lifted his head to press a kiss against his forehead. 

“You know, it feels like I can only ever talk around you,” Link noted. 

“I am so honored to be blessed by such a sound, Link,” Sidon said, lowering his head and closing his eyes. “Thank you.”

Link chuckled, and it was several minutes before he asked, “So are you feeling a bit better?”

“Yes,” Sidon droned. “I don’t know why that came over me so suddenly. I’m just anxious about it, is all.”

“Don’t be,” Link said, his hand restarting its massage session. “You’ve nothing to fear. Besides, you know how Nami uses King Dorephan as a Grandpa Slide when they play?”

“Yeah?”

“You can be a Dad Slide!” Link giggled. “Not just for Nami but for all our kids!”

Sidon giggled as that as well, his tail wagging for a few beats before it suddenly dawned on him what Link said: “Wait, did you just say kids!?”

Link stiffened again, but this time he could only let out a strangled string of grunts and avoid eye contact when Sidon looked up at him. 

Immediately, Sidon felt bad for pointing that out as well.

“Oh no, Link, please don’t get anxious,” Sidon pleaded, scooting himself up towards Link’s pillow so he could look more directly into his eyes, “I was just caught off guard is all!”

“I--” Link choked. He cleared his throat and nodded, stating hoarsely, “I was too.”

“So…” Sidon started, looking down and his tail swayed apprehensively. “Would you want to? Have children? With me? I mean adopt them obviously it would be physically impossible to--”

“Yes,” Link nodded his head intently, cutting Sidon off from his nervous rambling. He cupped his hand around Sidon’s cheek and said, “If you’ll let me.”

Sidon felt another lump form in his throat, but he thought it was because his heart felt so full. He swallowed and said, “Y-you could be Minami’s father too...she’s been raving about wanting two dads for the longest time.”

Link laughed at that, small buds of tears forming in the corners of his eyes as he said, “I thought I already was.”

Sidon pulled Link into such a tight hug at that and he pressed his lips against the other man’s. They both moaned in content, holding each other, tasting each other, loving each other. They only drew away so Link could breathe, his eyes full of stars. 

“Oh I love you, Link,” Sidon sighed, pressing his mouth to Link’s neck out of instinct, tasting his skin and feeling for the pulsing artery as blood coursed through it. He pressed his teeth to that spot but didn’t bite. 

No, he wouldn’t so dare as to take a bite out of his beloved. Not until they were mated (and he was certain Link would be okay with the action of course). 

“I love you too,” Link hummed. Oh, how Sidon longed to be able to hear that beautiful melody every day of his life, but how honored he was to be one of a very select few to ever hear it. “Even if you do get as big as my house.”


	8. Hair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On two occasions now, Link has come across young Zora who are very curious about his hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> requested by two anons and inspired by a beautiful comic by atwotonedbird on tumblr!

Sidon was still grumbling angrily when they got back to his quarters, and now Link wasn’t sure if it was because Ruta’s stubbornness was still getting to him or because of the monster attack that just added fuel to his fire. 

“Bastards,” Sidon growled, “I can’t believe they’d have the nerve to grab you like that…”

“Hm?’ Link grunted in confusion. It was only then that it finally clicked for him; a Moblin in the attack had gotten rather gutsy, grabbing Link by the hair and pulling him off his feet. Unfortunately for the Moblin, the motion had granted Link the perfect opening to slice it and kill it. But if  _ Sidon _ had been the one to been grabbed like that and on the tail…

Well, Link still couldn’t remember much about Zora biology but he did know that tails were a sensitive spot and his first instinct would have been to rush Sidon straight to the infirmary. 

That would also explain why Sidon let out such a rage-filled roar and ran his trident through the moblin’s neck even after it was dead.

“Sidon,” Link signed, giggling. “It didn’t hurt. It’s just hair.”

Sidon let out a snort and a grunt, giving Link a confused look before a flicker of realization crossed his gaze, “Oh! That’s right, the hair of you Hylians is not sensitive like our tails are. But still...those enemies could have gone without rushing you like that.”

Link shook his head and smiled, taking amusement out of Sidon’s mood. It took a lot to work Sidon up to such a visibly grumpy state. The only being in existence that Link knew of that could even so much as get a slight rise out of him was Vah Ruta. And they certainly were doing and excellent job of it. 

When they returned home, Sidon collapsed on the floor and let out an over dramatic sigh, his gills hissing as they pushed out what was left of his frustration and he finally mumbled, “Okay.”

“Better?” Link asked. 

“Better,” Sidon nodded, his smile returning. 

It was several more minutes before either spoke again, Link tearing his shirt off and borrowing Sidon’s wash room to rinse his hair out and his body off from all the dirt and grime of the unexpected confrontation (he tried to keep more hygienic in the Domain...Zelda didn’t particularly like that he had a habit of going on diplomatic missions on her behalf smelling like Lizalfos that were killed three days before. Plus he found the scale cleaner that contributed to Sidon smelling like actual flowers and while it was the most painful exfoliator for Hylians that Link will never use again, he shamefully admitted that he did open the bottle from time to time to let the scent permeate through the shower a bit). When Link emerged from the bedroom, changed and his hair having dried a little bit, Sidon was still laying on the floor.

“Don’t you need to pick Nami up from school today?” Link asked. 

“She told me she wanted to walk home with her friend Tumbo today,” Sidon hummed. “When she stays with me, his house is on the way and his mom is letting him walk home by himself now.”

“Ah,” Link grunted. He bit back a grin when he noticed the way Sidon’s lips were pursed together tightly. Teasingly, Link exaggerated his hand gestures as he signed, “That’s awfully brave of you to be letting her walk home alone by herself for the first time.”

Sidon responded with a long, distressed groan. 

His anxiety could be quelled in moments, however, because the door cracked open as Nami ran in cheering, “I’m home!” 

Sidon sat up, his tail wagging in delight as if he had not just been making a show of himself and his overprotectiveness, greeting, “Welcome back, Little One!” 

Nami giggled, running up to Sidon to give him a hug. The two chatted endlessly as Link sat down on the bed, running his fingers through his hair like a comb so it didn’t get too matted. He let his thoughts drift for a bit before he heard Nami’s voice quiet down and a small shift on the bed. Looking over, Nami was grinning ear to ear, facing him. 

Link smiled back at her, knowing what she was silently asking as he lifted her up and set her on his lap. It was kind of funny, Link thought, that Nami was learning to communicate with him through silence. It was as if because he couldn’t speak, she didn’t either. Of course, her mouth still ran a mile a minute just like Sidon’s did when she was excited, but when it was just the two of them, even though her sign language was still in the beginning stages of learning, she found ways to talk to him and understand him based on gestures and facial expressions alone and she insisted on using them herself too. 

It was...hell, Link thought it was the cutest and sweetest thing.

Speaking of which, Link caught Nami staring inquisitively at the top of his head, and with a kiss to her forehead he asked, “What?”

“What does hair feel like?” Nami asked.

“Hmmm,” Link thought, exchanging cues with Sidon who translated for him, “It depends on the person. Sometimes it’s very soft. Other times it’s coarse and thick.”

Sidon had walked over and sat down next to Link as he spoke, and Nami hesitantly reached her hand up and asked, “Can I touch it?”

Link grunted, a little surprised by the question but nevertheless smiled and ducked his head down. He felt the tiniest hands run across the front of his head and the sensation of the light tugging and the sound of little giggles caught Link off guard suddenly, bringing him back to a day in his childhood. 

 

_ Link had climbed up onto a rock for a break, unable to keep up with Mipha in the water. He didn’t know why that surprised him, but it still made him frustrated, especially when she asked if she could carry him part of the way up the stream until they reached their secret hideout.  _

_ When he gave her a sour look, she simply laughed and apologized, pulling herself onto the rock. He was glad when his father would send him on errands to the Domain. He loved being able to hang out with Mipha, and even as teenagers they still loved venturing out to their favorite spot, a ways from the Domain.  _

_ “...and then my father said that the Hero might’ve already been born among us,” Mipha’s tail swayed up and down, the end of it curling slightly when she smiled and kicked her legs up. “I just think that would be so amazing...I wonder what he’s like…” _

_ Link shrugged, burying the need to tell her that he had a dream once that he actually found the Master Sword and actually pulled it out of the ground. It was more a blind hope than anything. Surely the true Hero wouldn’t be some shy, scrawny, mute kid from Hateno Village that just wanted to do it to prove to everyone that he was a more capable warrior than he seemed. But as he debated the thought, he saw Mipha’s head swivel, her gaze narrowing and she let out a scoff, hopping off the rock and landing in the water on her feet, her hands on her hips.  _

_ “Don’t tell me that’s…” Mipha said in a low voice, her gills lifting slightly off her sides. She took a few steps towards a large boulder where the tail of a red fish was darting behind and then let out a growl and a, “SIDON!” _

_ The red fish turned into a Zora child as Prince Sidon shot up to his feet, the water coming up to his hips as he groaned back, “Whaaaaaaat!?”  _

_ Link bit back an amused snort when he saw the daggers in Mipha’s gaze. He also had to admit that, in the two years he had known Sidon, he was really glad that he had hit a growth spurt before the kid. When they had first met Sidon had been five and was only a head shorter than a twelve year old, which made it all the more embarrassing when he realized just how young the kid actually was. Now two years had passed and while Link was  _ still _ shorter than Mipha somehow, he at least shot up several inches above the boy who, like all Zora, stalled out and remained comparable in height to Hylians before they hit full maturity and then shot back up in height. He knew that his best friend and her baby brother would eventually tower over him one day, but he would take what he could get.  _

_ “What are you doing here!?” Mipha asked. “It’s dangerous for you to be wandering all the way out here by yourself, Mother and Father must be worried sick!”  _

_ Sidon pouted a little, looking down at his hands neatly folded over his belly as he stepped out from behind the boulder and said in the tiniest little voice, “But I want to play with you guys.” _

_ Mipha inhaled sharply, at a complete loss for words before she heaved a sigh, relenting. The Princess was always a sweet girl that was mild-tempered almost to a fault. But she still new how to hold her ground and win an argument when it came to anyone but her little brother. With Sidon, all he had to do was stare up at her with those big eyes and wag his tiny little tail and she was an instant pushover. But Link didn’t mind, he liked playing with Sidon. He was exceptionally mature and smart for his age and he made a great reading buddy.  _

_ “But Sidon…” Mipha covered her face in her hands. “If I let you stay our parents will be upset.” _

_ “I told them I was going to go play,” Sidon pleaded. He then took a few steps forward, knowing full well that he had her wrapped around his little finger, batted those eyes and begged, “Pleeeeease?” _

_ “Sure,” Link finally answered for the caving Princess Mipha and Sidon cheered with excitement, zipping forward so fast that he splashed Mipha with water on accident and launched himself onto Link’s lap. _

_ “Thank you!!” he grinned. Link grinned back at him, feeling a slight breeze from Sidon’s tail.  _

_ Suddenly, Sidon’s smile fell and he looked up at Link in confusion. “...why are your head tails so dark?” _

_ “Huh?” Link asked. _

_ Sidon pointed at the still sopping wet bangs on Link’s forehead. “Your head tails. They’re darker than usual and all droopy.” _

_ Link felt his brow furrowing in confusion but saw Mipha open her mouth and laugh, “Sidon, Hylians don’t have tails. That’s his hair.” _

_ “What’s hair?” Sidon asked, turning his attention to his sister. _

_ “Well a lot of Hylians live in cold climates so hair keeps their heads warm,” Mipha explained in a way very similar to how Link had to explain the same thing to her. “It’s like fur that animals have but since Hylians wear clothing they don’t need as much so they just grow long hair on their heads and fine, littler hair on other parts of their bodies like their arms.” _

_ “Ohhhhh,” Sidon nodded, patting his little hands against Link’s chest. He then looked up with an excited smirk and asked, “Can I touch it?” _

_ Link smiled and ducked his head, and Sidon reached up and tugged on a strand, letting out a cute snort and giggle with excitement. Mipha walked over and lifted her brother into her arms, but Sidon was so fixated on Link’s hair that he was practically spilling out of them, reaching forward to tug on various other, longer strands and run his little claws along Link’s scalp.  _

 

Link blinked several times, golden eyes that had been framed around a small red face were now framed around a light blue one’s. Nami reached both hands and grabbed hold of each side burn, giving them a light tug but her expression had softened. “Link?”

“Oh,” Link jumped out of his trance and smiled, assuring her that there was nothing to worry about. 

“What did you remember, my friend?” Sidon asked beside him. Link looked up to the prince and was taken aback slightly. Even as an adult, Sidon still had those bright sparkling eyes that, although they served to make women swoon nowadays, filled Link’s heart with warmth. He still had that big toothy grin and looked just as cute when his tail started wagging with excitement. 

“You,” Link whispered, and he couldn’t contain his smile when he watched his friend’s expression fill with childlike wonder. 


	9. Mask II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During a visit with Zelda, Sidon comes across those darn masks again.
> 
> and...curiosity gets the better of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Requested by ranzila and a continuation of Chapter 2! 
> 
> Also featuring the other three SidLink children of my own creation, Mipha, Cado, and Rho!

Sidon cradled Mipha’s tiny hand in his, keeping a firm hold so she wouldn’t wriggle away while trying to be gentle enough to not hurt her wrist as he held a set of tweezers in his other. 

Hylian sized tweezers. 

From Zelda’s powder room.

This was going to be difficult. 

“Daddy please!” Mipha whimpered, trying to tug free as tears spilled out of her eyes. Sidon felt a pang in his chest, knowing his little girl was hurting, especially when he looked at how red and swollen the tip of her finger was, but he just had to keep telling himself that he couldn’t let the wound fester and be strong. “A-Aunt Zellie sh-she’s the queen of Hyrule she can fix it when she gets back!”

“Mipha, sweetie, Aunt Zelda isn’t going to be back until tonight,” Sidon tried to reason with the little one. There was a loud crash outside followed by the boys screaming, causing the Zora prince to flinch inwardly and know that his sons were probably going to be the cause of Hyrule Castle’s complete and utter destruction if he did not get this splinter out of Mipha’s finger soon and reprimand them. “She and Papa are off on very important business, remember?”

“I knoooow,” Mipha blubbered, coughing up a few sobs. Goodness, why did these children always have to get into  _ something _ when Link was gone? His heart couldn’t take seeing his child in such distress even when he wasn’t alone. “B-But I can wait!”

“Mipha,” Sidon pleaded, “I can get this splinter out of you, but you need to hold still.”

“B-But Aun’t Zellie is the Queen of Hyrule! Sh-she can help!”

Sidon fought to keep his own internal distress at bay. Of course Aunt Zellie could help, Aunt Zellie could fix anything that the children deemed both Sidon and Link completely incompetent as parents in dealing with. Mipha wriggled even more in his grasp as he tried to get a hold of this damn splinter, but after pinching her skin on accident a few times with the tweezers Sidon let out a growl concealed by Mipha’s wailing and tossed the tool to the side figuring his claws could probably do a better job given the circumstance. 

If he had the dexterity to braid the little girl’s hair then he was perfectly capable of getting a splinter out of her finger. 

“Hold still, sweetheart,” Sidon tried to plead, but Mipha only cried harder.

There was another crash followed by what sounded like an argument between Cado and Rhonin and Sidon felt like he was about to snap by the time Nami finally came downstairs, book in hand, face buried in its pages, and walking at a pace as if she was trying to avoid what she knew was going to come: “Minami!”

Nami froze, straightening up almost too much as her tail even stiffened. “Yeah, Dad?”

“Please go see what your brothers are up to,” Sidon asked, “And stop them.”

He could just see Nami trying to force her eyes to keep from rolling to the back of her head as she complained, “But Daaad, I was just about to--”

“Now please!”

“Kay,” Nami groaned and stepped outside. Sidon sighed in relief when the shouting finally quieted down and he was able to turn his attention to the splinter. Mipha fought a little in his grasp but he was finally able to hook his claw around the tiny sliver of wood when he suddenly heard Nami scream, “WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO!?”

Sidon jumped at the outburst, even drawing his hand towards his body. Mipha yelped in surprise at his sudden movement before she started crying even harder and Sidon was confused for but a moment before he glanced down and realized that he was now balancing the tiny splinter in his claws, Mipha’s finger still swollen with a small droplet of blood forming but otherwise free. Sidon heaved a sigh and tossed the splinter in the trashcan he had placed next to him and lifted the crying girl into his arms, hugging her tight and soothing her as he stepped outside to see what on earth was going on. 

“What are you two doing?” Sidon asked firmly. Nami was red in the face with annoyance and the boys stood frozen, staring up at Sidon with pale cheeks and it wasn’t until he approached closer to them before he realized that not one, but three busts had been knocked over and damaged. Overcome with anger so quickly he didn’t even see it coming, the zora roared, “BOYS!”

“HE DID IT!” Rho and Cado pointed to each other and screamed out in defense. 

“I don’t care who did it!” Sidon snarled, trying hard to keep his composure. The nice thing about being so much larger than his sons was that he could still take hold of both of their hands in one of his to put them in timeout. “You broke something really important to Aunt Zelda and until you two can learn to cooperate and behave yourselves when we visit her, you are  _ both _ grounded!”

“Dad, we’re really sorry!” Cado cried out, tears immediately shot out of his eyes.

“I-It was an accident!” Rho insisted, still tearful but maintaining his composure marginally better than his brother. 

“Then you can explain that to Aunt Zelda when she gets back,” Sidon frowned, taking the boys up to their room. “Now you two need to stay here and think about what you’ve done.”

“But, Daaaaad!”

“No buts,” Sidon said sternly.

Cado was crying hysterically in the form of some kind of temper tantrum but Rho glanced down, understanding his fate, “Sorry, Dad.”

“I’m not the one you need to apologize to,” Sidon huffed. “Now  _ behave _ .”

“Yes, Dad…”

“Cado, do you understand why you are in trouble?” Sidon asked, waiting patiently for Cado to calm down. The boy simply plopped on the ground and continued crying.

“Cado, stop,” Rho groaned in annoyance. When Cado cried harder, the older boy went over and tapped his brother with his foot. “Dude!”

“Rhonin, give your brother space,” Sidon said gently. “I’ll be back in a half hour and we can talk more when he calms down.”

“But Dad, it’s annoying,” Rhonin started.

“Rhonin,” Sidon narrowed his gaze and the boy shut his mouth. Heaving a sigh, Sidon assured his boys that he would be back before he closed the door and heaved a sigh and returning his attention to the girl in his arms. 

Well. At least Mipha had calmed down.

“How’s your finger?” he asked. Mipha sniffled, her eyes watering up again when she held her little hand up. Sidon took her hand in his and inspected it to make sure it was clear of all foreign objects. 

“Awww,” Sidon pouted, kissing the wound. “Let’s put a bandage on that now, shall we?”

“Okay,” Mipha whimpered, ducking her head back down against his chest. “Thank you, Daddy…”

“Of course, my sweet,” Sidon patted her back and kissed the top of her head and it wasn’t until he got her finger bandaged and took her to one of the royal chefs for a sweet treat after the ordeal that he was able to go find an attendant and explain what had happened to the busts that were now cracked and on the floor. 

Apparently, Hyrule Castle had plenty of spares that were easily replaceable just for this sort of thing.

Sidon held back a groan when he put Mipha down for a nap and went to retrieve the boys. He knocked gently on the door and found Rho sitting on the floor with his arms crossed and wearing a comically serious look that resembled Link’s angry expression way too much. He also found Cado face-down on the bed unmoving. 

“Boys?” Sidon said gently and they both looked up at him with tired eyes. “May I come in?”

“Yes, Dad.”

“Come here,” Sidon said, sitting down on Rhonin’s bed. Both boys complied and climbed up onto Sidon’s lap, each sitting on a leg. He gently ran a hand through Rhonin’s tangled hair and brushed some dark, tear-soaked bangs out of Cado’s face and said, “Good news. The attendants are able to replace the busts before Aunt Zelda gets back.”

Rho and Cado perked up at that, and Sidon sighed, giving them the answer to the question that he knew they were both seeking, “The attendants don’t think it is necessary for you to worry about apologizing to Aunt Zelda as such accidents are prone to happening. But you boys are still grounded.”

“Aaaaah,” Cado groaned rocking backwards. 

“Prove to me that you two can get along and stay out of trouble and you will be ungrounded,” Sidon lectured. “But until then I can’t let either of you out of my sight, do you understand?”

“Yes, Dad,” both boys intoned.

“And guess what?” he grinned, staring down at them. “I love you.”

Cado perked up at the statement and Rhonin bit back the cutest of smiles. Cado stood up on Sidon’s leg and gave him a hug, “Love you, Dad!”

“I love Dad more,” Rho started with a smug grin.

“Rhonin,” Sidon gave the boy a stern but gentle look when he noted how immediately Cado riled up at the statement. “What did I say about getting along?”

“Okay,” Rho groaned. “Sorry.”

“That’s alright,” Sidon chuckled. “Now, stay here for the time being, I’ll come get you when Papa and Aunt Zelda return.”

“Okay!” 

When Link did return, Sidon was laying face-down on the bed in their room, exhausted. 

“So,” Link chuckled. “How are things?”

“Mipha got a splinter, the boys are grounded because they couldn’t stop fighting and broke a few busts,” Sidon recounted, his voice muffled against the sheets. “Nami has been staying out of the drama as per usual.”

Link snickered and Sidon felt a pair of hands caress his tail affectionately as he asked, “And my husband?”

“Your husband is very tired,” Sidon mumbled, lifting his head. Link grinned and placed a handful of kisses along the front of Sidon’s crest, causing the Zora’s tail to begin wagging lazily. He sighed in content and added, “But the attendants were kind enough to help me clean up the mess Rho and Cado made and replaced the decor.”

“Yeah, those things have a tendency to get knocked over,” Link signed in between kisses. “The castle has never been well child-proofed.”

“I’ve noticed,” Sidon mumbled. “Also I got the splinter out of Mipha’s finger.”

“Really?” Link’s eyes lit up knowingly. “I’m surprised she let you!”

“She didn’t want to,” Sidon smiled. “She wanted to wait for Aunt Zellie.”

“I’m proud of you,” Link grinned, finally planting a kiss on Sidon’s yearning lips. 

The rest of the evening went without incident save for the fact that Nami kept reminding Sidon how much she was a teenager because she kept trying to go off and hang out with the Hylians her age near the castle and didn’t want to hang with her dorky dads. And the next morning, as Link was getting ready to set out with Zelda once again, they received a visit from Purah.

“Oh Purah!” Zelda exclaimed as she greeted the Sheikah woman. “What brings you here?”

“Well, I finished the diagnostic testing you asked for!” she announced. 

“Oh, excellent!” Zelda smiled. “Um, Link I apologize but do you mind waiting for just a moment?”

“Of course,” Link smiled as he bounced Mipha in his arms. Then he curiously peered over to the bag Purah was carrying and asked, “What’s that?”

“Yes, I’d like to know too,” Sidon gave a curious tail wag, trying to balance Cado who was now climbing onto his head while holding Rho securely in his arms.

Zelda sucked in a breath and tried to insist that they didn’t need to worry about it but without a second thought Purah pulled out two masks from her bag and held them up, “Tadaaa!” 

Sidon nearly shrieked when he saw the masks and the only thing that kept him from leaping ten feet backwards was the little boy recklessly trying to slide down his tail. 

“Cado, stop,” Link ordered, and Cado hesitantly withdrew and climbed back down to Sidon’s shoulders. 

“Aren’t these the masks that Pa and I found once?” Nami asked, taking the Hylian mask into her hands and inspecting it.

“Nami no!” Sidon wailed. Nami flinched and looked up at him.

“Dad, relax, I wasn’t going to put it on,” she shrugged.

“What does it do?” Rho asked, leaning away from Sidon and trying to reach his hand towards the Zora mask. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Sidon growled, stepping himself and his boys away from the magic masks. 

“They turn you into whatever race the mask is supposed to be,” she shrugged, ignoring the way Sidon screamed in a panic. “It hurts like a bitch though so I wouldn’t put it on if I were you.”

“Where on  _ earth _ did you learn such language?” Sidon found himself asking, trying to ignore the way his sons were staring at the Zora mask a little too curiously. 

“What?” Nami shrugged. 

“I don’t like curse words leaving your tongue,” Sidon elaborated.

“But Pa says shit all the time!” Nami pointed at Link who withered under Sidon’s glare. And honestly, the only reason Sidon didn’t scold Nami further or get on Link’s case for spilling such fowl language consistently in front of their children was because Cado was now trying to inch down his arm.

“I wanna try it,” he whispered in wonder and Sidon pulled him close to his chest next to Rho.

“Try it on and you’ll be grounded for even longer,” Sidon warned. Both boys groaned but didn’t argue. His eyes darted to little Mipha who was eyeballing the Zora mask just as curiously and said, “Same goes for you, Little Lady.”

Mipha’s face turned into a sour scowl that didn’t cease even when Link warned her to listen to him. Sidon then glanced over at Nami  _ just in case _ but the young Zora threw her hands up and insisted, “I’m not going within ten feet of these things.”

“Good girl,” Sidon sighed, and he had to admit that he had a few extra moments with Link as their whole family sat and visited while Zelda and Purah were in the study discussing whatever research they had decided to conduct on those awful things. When Link and Zelda did leave, the Zora prince was grateful that the day was much calmer than the last. 

Mipha was very insistent at staying by her Great Aunt Purah’s side the entire day and the woman was always pleased to spend time with little Mipha. Rho and Cado were much better behaved overall and Sidon had  _ thought _ that he would get to spend some quality time with Nami but then she found him in the Dining Hall with a few of her Hylian friends and wrapped her arms suspiciously around his waist. 

“Hey, Daaaaad,” she grinned, her distinct giggles giving her impending question away.

Sidon heaved a heavy sigh. “You wish to do out into town with your friends?”

“Lillith’s mom owns a bakery here and invited us to come and try the cupcakes she made this morning,” Nami elaborated. She then looked up at Sidon with those big beautiful eyes that she knew was his weakness and begged, “Pleeease? I don’t get to hang out with her and everyone except for when we visit Zelda!”

“Of course you can go,” Sidon heaved a sigh, kissing his hopes and dreams and afternoon plans goodbye. “Just be back by dinner.”

“Thanks, Dad!” Nami cheered, before she bounced up and down to cue him to bend forward so she could kiss him on the cheek, “Love you!”

“Love you too,” Sidon smiled sadly as he waved her off.

And then he was alone.

And it took him all of two seconds before he was unbelievably and mind-numbingly bored. 

Which had him wandering around the palace looking for something to do.

Which was how he stumbled into Zelda’s study where the Hylian mask was just...sitting out. 

Sidon bit back a grimace as he lifted it into his hands, wishing so much that Zelda would at least take the care to keep this mask out of a child’s reach when they were visiting. Somewhere in his irritated musings, Sidon found himself giving the mask a much more thorough inspection than he had ever intended and…

Well. He got curious. 

It was an intricate mask and Sidon had to applaud the maker’s craftsmanship. And it had been quite a few years since he had seen it last and...despite how well he remembered Nami’s pained cries trying to get the mask off, he also couldn’t keep from remembering that Link was able to take the Zora mask on and off multiple times with minimal effort. 

Which is why the utterly horrible thought dawned in Sidon’s mind: how bad could it be?

For a child yes, he could understand how the pain of a shape shift could be excruciating. But for an adult that was seasoned in battle? Surely it wasn’t  _ that _ painful. 

Well...Sidon couldn’t have been one to judge just how bad the mask would hurt him but the next thing he knew he was laying on the floor, his head and his sides throbbing and when he sat up and looked in the mirror he screamed louder than he had when he felt the mask change him.

Oh no.

Oh  _ no _ , what had he done. 

He...he had  _ hair! _

Sidon tugged frantically at the crimson locks that extended from his scalp all the way to his mid back when his hands grazed against protruding flesh on the sides of his head that he didn’t think should be there. And then when he felt them move and he realized that they were his  _ ears _ , pointed and twitching as frantically as he felt, Sidon let out another yelp and decided that he was really  _ really  _ glad that there was no one around to see him in such a state. 

He didn’t know why he sprinted out of Zelda’s study and to his room in a panic. He should have removed the mask immediately and  _ then _ left. But here he was, standing with the door to his room locked as he paced back and forth nervously. 

How was he going to get this thing off? 

Well, he knew how, he just needed to man up and rip it off like a bandage. 

But sweet Goddess above the pain of the initial transformation was one that was still sending shocks to his system. 

And taking the mask off was proving to be a whole other fiasco.

He  _ thought _ he could just rip it off like a bandage, but every time he hooked his thumbs around the little divet on the back of his jaw and tried to pull the mask off, he was met with such blinding pain that he either let go or fell to his knees before giving up.

Oh sweet Hylia what was he going to do. 

He needed to check on the boys. He needed to check on Mipha. He needed to make sure they had lunch and were doing well and he wanted to spend some time with Rho and Cado but he couldn’t just... _ show up  _ caught in the act of having done the exact thing he warned his children to not do! 

Somewhere in his musings, he heard a loud  _ thud _ as the door jiggled slightly.

Sidon yelped, “Wh-who is it!?”

“Me!” Link’s voice called back.

Oh  _ shit. _

“Y-you’re back early!” Sidon noted, feeling the way his hands clammed up as sweat pooled in various regions of his body that he was  _ not _ used to feeling. Oh goddess above that was gross. 

“We’re near the castle,” Link grunted and Sidon could hear the small sound of the Hylian’s head hitting the door. “We wanted lunch here! Open the door!”

“J-just a minute!” Sidon called back anxiously and he heard the way Link caught onto the shaking of his voice.

“Sidon?” he asked. “You okay?”

“Just feeling a little under the weather is all!” Sidon lied, biting his lip and he wondered how in the hell his  _ teeth _ of all things maintained their zora features as they bit clear through his now-sensitive skin. 

“Do you want me to stay?” Link asked, his voice sounding worried. “Zelda doesn’t need--”

“NO!” Sidon screamed, before correcting himself. Out of sheer panic, he started trying to tug the mask off again. “I-I mean, it’s fine! I’m fine!”

“Sidon!” Link hissed. “Open the fucking door!”

“I said just a minute!” Sidon insisted, certain he would get the mask off this time. But alas, fate was not on his side and he merely let out another scream of pain. He knew the moment he let it out that he had scared Link to his core and on reflex sprinted into the bathroom to hide just as he heard his husband kick the door down. When he heard Link following the sound of his footsteps he tripped and slid into the shower and pulled the curtain closed, as if that would keep Link from finding him or make him worry less. 

“Sidon!?” Link panted, “Seriously! Where are you!?”

“I-I’m getting ready to shower…” Sidon said weakly, covering his face at his own stupidity.

“You’re not…” Link started to say knowing full well that had Sidon been in the shower in his true form his head would be poking above the curtain rod. He heard an exasperated sigh and then Link ripped the curtains open. Sidon peeked through his fingers just long enough to see the blank look of confusion melt into shock which twisted into alarm. 

In his moment of weakness, Sidon slowly lowered his hands and looked down, “I realize that this looks really bad…”

“For fuck’s sake, Sidon,” Link mumbled to himself, turning his head away.

“I know,” Sidon grit his teeth. “Please don’t tell the kids.”

“You  _ just _ told them--”

“ _ I know _ .”

“Okay,” Link groaned as he covered his face with his hands. All of his words of the day apparently spent in his panic, Link took several moments to even think of what to sign. “I’ll tell Zelda that you got sick or something and then come back and help you get this thing off.”

“Mmm, make sure the kids eat first,” Sidon shuffled his feet. 

“I--”

“And that Rho and Cado aren’t fighting.”

“Yes, I know--”

“And put Mipha down for her nap--”

“ _ Sidon _ ,” Link placed his hands on his hips and glaring sternly at the once-Zora before he signed, “Don’t forget that I’m the stay-at-home Dad whenever you’re off taking care of the Domain. I  _ know _ .”

“Sorry,” Sidon wilted under his husband’s glare. 

“Just,” Link signed, holding in some kind of exasperated noise. “Stay. Here.”

“Okay,” Sidon didn’t have the energy to do anything else at this point. 

When Link finally returned after what felt like ages, Sidon was still in the bathroom, but now curled up in a ball hugging his knees to his chest. Evidently, having longer, more proportional legs built for the land only made Sidon even  _ more _ clumsy and he gave up on trying to do  _ anything _ until the mask was removed. 

“Aw,” Link bit back a smile when he found Sidon. “Cute.”

“Don’t start,” Sidon scowled. 

“You did this to yourself,” Link pointed out with amusement as he knelt down in front of Sidon. Before he reached forward to take hold of the mask, he instructed, “When I pull on the mask, you draw your head away from me.”

“Okay,” Sidon nodded, bracing himself for the pain. On the count of three, Link gave the mask the firmest tug he could manage and Sidon howled out in pain but then suddenly, the pain subsided as Link let go and fell backwards. 

The two men stared at each other as a strong sense of doom settled in Sidon when he stared down at his Hylian hands.

It.

Was.

Stuck.

“WHY IS IT STUCK!?” Sidon screamed. “IT SHOULDN’T BE STUCK!”

“It’s not stuck!” Link protested, though he looked nervous as if he was trying to lie to Sidon. Or himself. “Stand up. I’ll try again.”

And try he did. They tried while standing at multiple different angles. Sidon bent over so Link could reach him (he disliked that he was so short in this form but was pleasantly surprised that he was still much taller than Link). Link stood on the bed. Link made Sidon lay down while Link tried to wrestle the mask off of him. 

Nothing.

“I’m going to be like this forever,” Sidon droned, his heart racing.

“No, you’re not.”

“Sweet Hylia, what have I done.”

“Sidon--”

“I HAVE MADE SO MANY MISTAKES!”

“SIDON!” Link roared, trying to outcompete his husband in volume. When he finally got Sidon’s attention, he signed indignantly, “Let’s just get Purah.”

“Oh because Purah is going to let me live this down,” Sidon scoffed. “The last thing I need is  _ Purah _ telling all of Hyrule that the  _ Zora Prince _ turned himself into a damn Hylian with a mask he told his children not to touch!” 

“Sidon, come on,” Link huffed, trying to tug on Sidon’s hand and force him to stand up. 

“No, Link.”

“You don’t get a choice in this!”

“But  _ Link! _ ”

Evidently, Sidon really did not have a choice in this. Because even as they bickered, they were found. And he was caught. And just as Sidon thought he could get away with trying to get the mask off his way, Purah’s voice pierced through their argument and said, “The longer the mask stays on the harder it is to get off.”

Link and Sidon froze, their heads shooting to the side to find the woman standing with one hand on her hip and Mipha sitting on the other, a very amused look on her face. 

In her arms, Mipha giggled, “Is Daddy grounded, Papa?”

“Yes, Mipha,” Link rolled his eyes as he signed. “Daddy is very grounded.”

“Oh leave me alone, my foolishness is punishment enough,” Sidon overdramatically draped his arm over his face in his embarrassment, only to earn a good swat to the side of his head from Link. 

“Stop that.”

“Stop what!?”

“Being overdramatic!”

“It’s who I am, Link!” 

“Stop bickering and hold still,” Purah lectured as she climbed up onto the bed. “Mipha, hold your Dad’s head.”

“Okay!” Mipha chirped and she crawled over to the side of Sidon’s face. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be taking a nap?” he asked the child. 

“She wanted to play,” Purah shrugged. “Now hold still. Link, take the other side of the mask.”

“Purah, she needs to be napping,” Sidon chided. “You can’t just let her get out of bed because she wants to! She is going to have a fit later tonight!”

“Well, that’s why you’re the parent and I’m the fun aunt,” Purah noted. “Now stop squirming. Link on the count of three you pull with all your strength.”

“Purah! Fun or not, sleep is very important for young ones to ensure optimal growth and health and--OWWWWW!” 

Sidon’s howls turned into pained roars as he sat up abruptly, accidentally pushing both Link and Purah off the bed, the only thing bringing him back to reality were Mipha’s startled cries. 

“Oh! Oh, Mipha, my sweet I am so sorry!” Sidon pleaded, spinning around to pull Mipha into his arms and comfort her. It was only when he reached out and saw his crimsons scales and claws while he embraced his youngest daughter that he realized he was free of the magical confines. “I’m--Link! Purah! You did it!”

Sidon spun around to see Purah still laying on her back holding the mask over her head as Link sat up in a daze, groaning. Realizing that he was the indisputable cause of this, the Zora frowned, “Sorry.”

“You’re right, Sidon,” Purah said after a moment. “You are definitely  _ not _ living this down.”

“Purah!” Sidon whined in distress. “Please! Be reasonable!” 

“Naaaah.”

As if to add insult to injury, it was in that exact moment that Nami poked her head into the room, having returned from her excursion with her friends with impeccable timing. “Dad, I’m back--what happened?”

“Your dad tried on the Hylian mask!” Purah cackled with no remorse causing Sidon to flinch under his daughter’s glare as Link broke out into his own fit of laughter at Nami’s horror. 

“PURAH!” Sidon cried out.

“DAD!” Nami screamed. “Seriously!?”

“It was a mistake!!”

“I’m telling Rho and Cado!”

“NAMI NO!”


	10. Father's Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids always love going all out on Father's Day, and this year is no different.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This wasn't really a request, this was more just a special I did for Father's day featuring all the kiddos when they are older plus a new OC that I have yet to introduce in my fic, Tipf! Sweet, pure, awkward Tipf. He's a new type of Zora that I'll also introduce as well but so far all you need to know is that Father's Day is a whole new holiday for him lmao.

There were very few occasions that would get Nami out of her sleeping pool in the morning willingly before anyone else, and one of those occasions was, indisputably, Father’s Day.

For several years now, the princess of the Zora and heir to the throne had the greatest fortune of honoring not one, but two dads on the holiday. And she had the joy of having spent most of those years singing the praises her Dad and Papa deserved with three of the best younger siblings she could ask for. 

And this year, she was excited to announce that they had a fourth set of helping hands. 

Minami really had to pat herself on the back for finally orchestrating her dream celebration. Dad praised her constantly about how she was coming into her own as a leader and while she wasn’t one for tooting her own horn she was really proud of herself for directing and bringing Mipha’s vision for a surprise party to life without even the King himself finding out. 

Pa was on her trail a couple of times, but bless Rho and Cado for directing his attention elsewhere. 

When Nami rounded the corner to the kitchen, her brothers and sister were waiting for her and snapped firmly to attention to wait further direction.

“Alright!” Nami grinned, mimicking Dad as she struck a pose. “Today is the day! Do we all know what the plan is?”

“Yes, Nami!” her siblings cried out in unison.

“Perfect!” Nami grinned. “Cado, you’re on breakfast duty. Mipha, you scout out the area and make sure the coast is clear. Rho, you and me are on decorations this morning.”

“And then when I finish breakfast I will signal for you guys to come back so we can wake them,” Cado grinned, puffing his chest out.

“And then when that is over, Nami, you’ll keep Dad distracted while I take care of Pops, right?” Rho asked. 

“Exactly,” Nami grinned. “And then Mipha and Cado will finish the preparations. The party starts promptly at five o’clock, Rho and I will bring Dad and Papa in shortly after that.”

The three before her all nodded their heads, but Mipha looked less confident than the other two. 

“Mipha?” Nami asked, noting her expression. “You okay?”

Mipha’s brow furrowed as if she were deciding how to say what was on her mind. “What about Tipf?”

Nami tilted her head to the side in confusion. Tipf was...to put it nicely, not used to how social the Zora of the Domain were compared to his Beta brethren. To put it bluntly, he had a shit life and a lot of social anxiety that sprung up out of nowhere the last time he walked in on a major gathering in the palace unprepared. “Well, I told him there was a surprise party tonight so he had the heads up and wasn’t startled.”

“Well, yeah, but…” Mipha’s expression twisted into something a little sour as she thought hard one what she was trying to say. “Don’t you think he’d want to help? I mean...Dad and Papa have basically taken him in at this point. I mean I know things are kinda... _ weird _ between you two because of that but still.”

Nami felt her expression flatten. “What do you mean by...weird?”

“Well…” Mipha’s voice trailed off but Rhonin lost his patience and made the bluntest and probably most incorrect statement of his life. 

Maybe.

“She means that you two are totally a thing and it’s kind of weird that he’s technically also our foster brother if you think about it hard enough so we just don't,” Rho rolled his eyes and Nami felt her gills flare in a mix between embarrassment and shock as she let out an angry snort. 

“We are not a thing!” Nami growled in defiance, only to receive a hum of disagreement echo among her siblings. 

“You guys totally are.”

“Definitely.”

“Do you  _ not _ see the way he looks at you?”

“Just because a guy has a thing for me does not mean that the sentiment is returned,” Nami scolded, sticking her tongue out at her siblings. “We are not a thing.”

Mipha smacked her hand to her face as Rho and Cado exchanged an unreadable look. Rho started shaking his head as Cado’s eyes widened and his lips pursed more and more until he finally blurted, “Yeaaaaah but you guys are definitely going to be a thing eventually…”

“WE ARE NOT!”

“Anyway!” Mipha finally groaned, stepping forward, “Nami, my point is that we should really ask him if he wants to help out! The Beta probably don’t have a Father’s Day and I can’t see why he’d have a reason to even celebrate it until now.”

That finally simmered down Minami’s temper and she quieted down in thought for a moment before she nodded her head and said, “That’s a really good idea, Meef! Hell, we could probably see if he wanted to add something special to the mix if he wanted.”

“He could pick out their cards,” Cado offered. “We haven’t gotten those yet.”

“He’d have to know that he needs to pick out the right ones,” Rhonin mused. “Pops absolutely needs to get a card that tops last year’s.”

“Last year’s card will be hard to top,” Nami nodded, deep in thought. The puns were insane on that one.

“He can do it,” Mipha assured. “I believe in him.”

“Alright, it’s settled,” Nami nodded. “So who’s gonna wake him up?”

 

* * *

 

There were few luxuries in the Domain that Tipf would never get over. The sleeping pools and the cleanliness of their waters being one of them. He could’ve slept in that pool all day if he had been allowed. 

And yet the tugging on the spine of his head, extending his fins out stirred him as he jumped in the water.

He would never get used to being awoken from slumber by something that was non-threatening. And yet, there Mipha was laying on her stomach and Tipf felt like she was staring into his soul with those kind, crimson eyes. 

Also...there was no daylight shining into his room yet. 

“Princess Mipha?” Tipf asked, rising out of the water. “Is something wrong?”

“No, I just had a question,” she explained, sitting up and smiling as she extended a hand to help Tipf out of the water. 

“What’s that?”

“You wanna help us throw a party for our dads?” she asked, her smile extending all the way to her pointed ears. 

Tipf narrowed his eyes and leaned back slightly in confusion. “Sure...but...why?”

“It’s Father’s Day!” Mipha cheered. He barely had to give the girl a blank expression before she launched into her explanation: “Well, here we like to extend appreciation to our parents by dedicating special holidays to them. And today is Father’s Day! So the others and I do something special for Dad and Papa each year and this year we decided to throw them a surprise party. You don’t have to stay the whole time if you aren’t comfortable, but we wanted to ask if you’d be interested in helping set it all up?”

“S-sure,” Tipf answered, his fins raising up in awe. A whole day dedicated to your father? Just because? What kind of time did the Domain have on their hands!? 

But still, Tipf mused, he had been mulling over a means and a way to express his gratitude for King Sidon and Master Link for quite some time now...and they both had been rather insistent that he consider himself a part of the family if that was what he desired.

...and he did think of each of them as more of a father than his own had been…

When Tipf followed Mipha into the royal kitchen where Cado was whipping...some kind of dough as Rho and Minami ran about, he felt it very necessary to stoop forward in a deep bow and announce, “Princess Minami I am at your service! Whatever you may need to grant your fathers the best day of their lives I will assist you!”

“Ooh, spare the dramatics, Dude,” Minami whistled, touching her finger to his forehead and pushing on it until he was standing back up and looking her directly in her eyes.

Her...beautiful sharp eyes that could see straight through the Zora that he was to draw out the Zora he so desperately wanted to be in even the darkest of times…

The beautiful golden eyes that reminded him of the first sunset he ever saw. 

Framed by the most magnificently colored scales ideal for hunting that shined in the sunlight and…

He was getting ahead of himself. 

“Um,” Tipf grunted awkwardly. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Minami grinned. “Just breathe. It’s not a life or death situation, it’s just a holiday!”

As much as he respected Princess Minami with his whole heart, he couldn’t help but scoff at her attitude towards “just a holiday”. Did her sister not say that it was a day to honor one’s father!? Or in this case, fathers!? It should be a day treated with the utmost authority and effort to sing only the highest of praises, especially to the kind Zora kings! 

“Tipf?” Minami asked, pulling him out of his thoughts.

“Yes, Princess!”

“Don't call me Princess, and stop inner monologuing,” Minami lectured, holding up a new finger for each point she made. “Relax.”

“O-okay,” Tipf grunted, finding that easier said than done. Beside him, he heard Mipha giggling.

“You can just follow our lead for now,” she grinned. “And watch what Cado’s doing for breakfast. After that, we’ll have a few tasks for you to do.”

“Yes, Princess!”

“You don’t have to call me a princess, either, Tipf,” Mipha said in a much gentler tone than her sister had earlier. “You’re family now, remember?”

“...right,” Tipf grunted, and followed Cado in amazement as he expertly turned a row of raw ingredients into a delicious spread. His talent was comparable to Master Link’s and Tipf couldn’t stop praising the Hylian in amazement but figured out that he needed to stop when he saw Cado’s ears turn red and worried if his words were causing him to overheat or something. 

“Can you get Nami and Rho? They should be in the great hall planning out decorations,” Cado asked once he was finished.

“Of course, Prince Cado!”

“Dude…”

“I mean...Cado!”

“That’s better.”

Tipf followed Cado’s request dutifully and then followed the royal siblings down a long corridor to a part of the palace he had not been to since Master Link gave him the initial tour of the place. 

“Isn’t this where the Kings’ sleeping quarters are?” Tipf asked.

“Yeah,” Minami answered. “I told you, we’re bringing them breakfast in bed.”

Tipf felt himself freezing up a little as the spines supporting his large fins extended out and upward. He sure did follow the royal siblings into the kings’ sleeping chamber and was not only shocked to see that there was a  _ bed _ to accomodate Master Link but that King Sidon also  _ slept _ in it huddled up next to Link shocked Tipf just long enough that he managed to also wonder how nice life must be like to allow oneself to be open and vulnerable to attack when asleep because there is  _ zero fear _ of an attack before he remembered he was disrespecting the men he regarded so highly and looked away.

Though...he did watch from the corner of his eye as Cado balanced one tray and Rhonin balanced the other whilst Minami and Mipha pounced on the bed, startling their fathers awake and cheering, “Happy Father’s Day!!” 

King Sidon lifted his head and turned onto his back, eyes bleary with sleep still and was tossed back a little when Minami launched herself into his arms. Link was a little more with it when he sat up and looked around, grinning widely. 

“Oh goodness!” King Sidon chuckled as Mipha too added her weight into the hug. He grunted as he sat up in the bed and looked around. “Thank you!”

“Don’t thank us yet,” Rhonin grinned smugly, “We’ve got another present planned for you later.”

“You children know that you don’t have to go to the lengths that you do for us, truly,” King Sidon chided them, though his voice was filled with nothing but love and gratitude. 

“Just because we don’t have to doesn’t mean that we won’t,” Minami giggled in a way that sent Tipf’s heart flying. “You guys deserve it!”

“Well thank you guys,” Link chimed in. 

“Tipf helped me with breakfast!” Cado announced suddenly, and Tipf tried hard to make himself disappear as six sets of eyes turned to him. 

“I--hardly did anything,” Tipf grunted. 

“Yeah, he’s helping us this year!” Mipha cheered, grinning.

“He’s really excited to ‘express his gratitude and respect’ is what I think he said earlier,” Minami added and Tipf  _ really  _ wanted to shrink away. 

“Awww,” Link’s smile somehow got brighter, but it was King Sidon who addressed him directly.

“Tipf, my boy, why are you all the way over there?” he asked.

“I...don’t want to be disrespectful, sire!” Tipf admitted. “To...walk in on someone of a higher rank when they are sleeping and at their most vulnerable is very rude of me, I apologize!” 

Sidon blinked several times as the other five exchanged confused looks, but then the King’s expression softened and Tipf would forever be amazed at his and Link’s patience and kindness. “Oh--oh, no Tipf, it’s not like that at all here! This is just a family tradition is all, you’re in perfectly safe company, don’t feel like you are disrespecting us at all by approaching. Please.”

Tipf jumped at that, but didn’t disobey. Upon invitation from Link he hesitantly sat down on the bed along with the royal siblings and his parents, observing quietly, just as he always did as he watched them exchange their playful banter, as Link and Sidon praised and thanked them (and  _ Tipf _ as well) for their efforts to bring such a lovely surprise. Link gave him a friendly pat on the back several times, trying to coax him into the conversation (which Tipf fought hard to not think of the irony about  _ that _ ) and needless to say, the Beta Zora felt a certain warmth rise in his chest that he hadn’t experienced before living in the Domain.

He knew, when they exited the Kings’ room, that he needed to do his best to ensure that they had the greatest Father’s Day of their life. 

“Tipf, everything alright?” Minami asked, placing a gentle hand on his back, her fingers grazing the long fin that lined his back, starting from the large spine at the top of his head. 

“Yes,” Tipf nodded, “I am ready to follow whatever tasks you may need of me.”

“Good,” Minami grinned, turning herself to face him directly as she placed a firm hand on his shoulders, “Because we have a  _ very _ important task for you.”

“What is it?” Tipf asked curiously, his eyes lighting up and his fins raising. He watched as Minami’s tail started to wag and her eyes sparkled. 

“We need you to pick up a card for each of them,” she instructed. “Whatever you think best suits them. It’s up to you. There is just one condition.”

“Yes?”

Minami leaned into Tipf, her snout almost touching his and Tipf had to fight hard to keep his fins and gills from flaring outward. In her very serious tone that she only reserved for battle, she ordered, “Papa’s card has to have the worst pun you can find.”

Tipf blinked several times. “Wh-huh?”

“Dead serious,” Minami nodded her head. “You haven’t seen much of it yet because Dad is making him behave himself. But he is absolute garbage for dad jokes and bad puns.”

Tipf felt like an idiot for asking, “What are...Dad jokes?”

Minami was very silent and he honestly wasn’t sure if she was judging him or didn’t know how to answer his question.

“Do you know what puns are?”

“Obviously.”

“Okay then stick with that.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Any more questions?”

“No.”

“Cool,” Minami grinned, then gave Tipf a firm smack on the back. “Now go! Be free my trash son!”

“I-I’m trash?”

“It’s a term of endearment, now go!”

Tipf took off at a faster speed than he knew he was capable of moving at on land.

She thought he was endearing! 

However, it was only after Tipf got to the market that he had failed to ask a very important question.

Was King Sidon the one she referred to as Papa or Master Link…?

He cursed himself, thinking that he needed to know the answer to this by now. But between Dad, Daddy, Papa, Pa, Pops, Father, and any other iteration that the siblings could think of, Tipf had lost track of what term was for who. He hadn’t even dreamed of calling his own father anything other than ‘Father’ or ‘Chief Nuru’,.Hell, half of the terms he hadn’t even heard of until he came to the Domain. 

But he had to have at least one card with a pun. 

Eyes darting back and forth to the wide selection before him, Tipf cracked his knuckles and gave it his best shot. 

 

* * *

 

It wasn’t until Tipf returned a half hour into the party that Nami wondered if she should have told him that Dad had a heavy preference for the really sappy cards that made him cry. 

At the very least she thought he would have known to  _ not _ give him a card that was arguably heavier in the Dad jokes than the one he intended for Papa. 

“I am so sorry,” Tipf pleaded for the twentieth time as she stared at it. “I didn’t realize!”

“It’s not your fault,” she finally sighed, leaning over the table to sign the cards so the others could follow her. “You didn’t know and we didn’t tell you.”

“Still, I should have thought to ask!” 

“Well, how bad is it?” Rho asked as Nami handed him the pen. He picked up the cards, nodding at Papa’s in approval until he read Dad’s and his face immediately fell. Tipf let out another series of profuse apologies as Cado immediately snatched the card out of his hand to inspect it. 

A moment of silence.

Suddenly, Cado looked up, his green eyes sparkling as he said in awe, “This is going to be the best Father’s Day.”

Tipf all but collapsed in what Nami hoped was relief but she still found herself staring at her brother, baffled. “Cado,  _ are you sure? _ ”

“Do it,” he intoned, a devious grin spreading across his lips. 

When Mipha finally looked at the card, she gave an unreadable expression but nevertheless signed it and sealed it and handed both cards back to Nami for them to present later in the evening. 

 

* * *

 

Sidon nearly reduced to tears at least three times that night but was proud to say that he didn’t turn into a blubbering mess  _ until  _ the traditional father-daughter dance that was scheduled for the evening. 

Or should he say, dances. 

He was so incredibly impressed and even more moved by his children. They had pulled out all the stops and thought of everything for the surprise party. The entire Domain had been invited. There were special games for Fathers with their sons that Sidon and Link got to participate in with their boys. Tipf even joined in for them. It was a merry evening and he didn’t even have to pull Link off of the bar or anything!

When it was time for the father and daughter events of the evening, Sidon had to admit that the liquor from the drinking games he played with the boys was starting to go to his head a bit and he was a little whimpery when he took Mipha into his arms for the dance. 

When the music switched and Mipha stepped away to dance with Link and Nami walked into his arms and Sidon heard the very distinct harp that started off the song he and Link shared their first dance to at their wedding, he pretty much lost it. 

“Oh, Dad,” Nami giggled, resting her head on his shoulder. “You were holding it together so well!”

“Shut up!”

“If it makes you feel better, Pops started sobbing when he realized we scheduled enough music to share a dance with both of us,” Nami grinned.

“That does make me feel a little better,” Sidon mumbled. And he managed to pull himself together for the rest of the evening. 

Until Cado and Rho did a duet on the piano in their honor, for all of the Domain to see. 

Mipha carefully slid a box of tissues his way, though he wasn’t sure how on earth those would help his case until Link reached across him and blew his nose. 

“Why are our kids so good to us?” Sidon mused as Rho and Cado took a bow. Link muttered something, but was too blubbery to be intelligible.

There were a few more performances from several young Zora honoring their own fathers and Sidon thought that it would have granted him time to compose himself. But he was very wrong. Hell, if anything he was so moved by the love poured into his event, not just for Link and Sidon but for all of the deserving fathers in the Domain, that he just couldn’t keep it together. And having Nami as the MC who was doing  _ so well _ talking to her subjects and cracking jokes and just overall being such a personable and well spoken heir had him even more of a mess than he would have thought.

At least Link was sobbing with him instead of making fun of him. 

“Alright, well, we have one more surprise for our beloved Kings tonight!” Nami explained to the audience. “You see, it’s a bit of a tradition in our family to find only the greatest cards for Father’s Day. So tonight, we thought we’d present this tradition in front of everyone. And this year is extra special, because our good friend, Tipf, will be presenting them!”

Sidon was taken aback slightly by that as Tipf rose to his feet. He even felt the slightest tinge of anxiety on Tipf’s behalf when he realized the boy was even going to the stage to say a few words. 

“Um,” Tipf grunted as he cleared his throat. “So...I…”

Sidon and Link exchanged a look, wondering if they should insist that he doesn’t need to be pushed so far out of his comfort zone just for their sake, but then Mipha tapped on Sidon’s arm and said quietly, “He asked if he could do this.”

Exchanging another look, Sidon and Link took each other’s hands and Sidon sat back in his throne, watching the boy intently.

Tipf cleared his throat again. “I...sorry...I’m not used to this sort of thing. All I wanted to say is...where I am from, there is no such thing as Father’s Day. Family isn’t even considered as something worth prioritizing. It’s just...an obligation. You fend for each other because you have to. You respect your parents for little more reason other than they gave you life. But...here...it’s different.”

Sidon felt something catch in his throat as he watched the boy and he heard Link inhale deeply once again. Tipf hadn’t been one to share much about his home other than what he absolutely had to, but even from the brief stint he and Nami had spent in those caverns...he knew it must’ve been a dreadful place to live and he never wanted to press the information out of Tipf. And yet hearing him speak like this in front of  _ everyone _ …

Tipf took another nervous breath: “This morning, when I was invited to help with the preparations, I was brought into King Sidon’s and King Link’s quarters to help serve them breakfast. And they kept insisting to us that there was no obligation for such an act. Yet...every time Princess Minami or Prince Rhonin or Prince Cado or Princess Mipha...one of them would always insist that they did it simply to honor their fathers and express their love and gratitude. And that’s something that I just think is amazing.”

At that point, Tipf spoke more confidently and a waiter walked up with a tray of champagne flutes for Tipf and Nami to each take. Tipf turned away from the audience towards Sidon and Link, raising his glass with a smile, “And...that’s what I want to do. I have been shown nothing but love from King Sidon and King Link, even when I didn’t think I deserved it. So...even though it is a simple gesture, I hope that these cards can express even half of my gratitude for all that you have done for me. All that you have done for us. Your children and I...we couldn’t ask for better parents.”

Annnnnd Sidon had his head in his hands with tears as the rest of the guests toasted to them and applauded and it took him a full five minutes to compose himself enough to rise to his feet and give all  _ five _ of his kids a hug. 

“You gonna be alright there, Dad?” Rho asked playfully as he embraced Sidon. 

“I’m phenomenal, actually,” Sidon whimpered. Cado was just as blubbery when he came in for a hug which only made Sidon worse and thank every single Goddess above that Mipha was mostly quiet and full of smiles when she hugged him because otherwise he would have reduced to a puddle. 

“You’ve all done so well, this was so sweet,” Link insisted, not wanting to let go of Nami. “Thank you.”

“Tipf, that speech was beautiful, thank you” Sidon said, opening his arms and trying to gauge whether or not the boy was ready to accept hugs. To his surprise, Tipf stepped in for one, but it turned into an awkward pat on the back from Sidon’s end because the boy was just standing there unsure of himself. 

They’d get there. Eventually.

“King Sidon,” Tipf said in a low voice. “I am  _ so sorry _ .”

“Huh?” Sidon grunted, but Nami nervously slid in between them and pushed Sidon back into his seat.

“Okay, time to open the cards!” 

Knowing full well the type of nonsense Link was going to get, Sidon watched in amusement as his husband tore it open, and then cackled when he read the text that was printed neatly over a watercolor painting of a mushroom:

 

_ Dad, we think you’re a fungi! _

 

_ Love your fun children,  _

_ Nami, Rho, Cado, Mipha, and Tipf _

 

The audience, knowing Link’s antics fully, also got an amused chuckle out of the card. And knowing the kids’ odd tendency to get him the most emotional and sappy cards that they could possibly find, Sidon braced himself for what was to come. 

However, there were slight snickers from four of them as Nami handed him the envelope.

Tipf just covered his face with his hands and hissed, “ _ I didn’t know!” _

“Didn’t know what?” Sidon asked.

“Just,” Nami grimaced. “Read the card.”

Confused, Sidon opened the envelope and pulled out a card that startled him with a picture of a yellowtail printed on it.

When he read the text he almost wanted to vomit in his mouth the joke was so bad. 

 

_ Why can’t Zora dads sing their kids lullabies?  _

_ Because you can’t tuna fish!  _

 

The audience, knowing full well how much Sidon supposedly  _ hated _ puns entirely because Link spouted them ruthlessly and constantly and kind of did it just to troll him at this point, let out a stifled snicker but didn’t hold their laughter in for too long before they started roaring hysterically. 

“I...was only told to find a card with a pun for Master Link,” Tipf groaned, clearly humiliated. “I’m so sorry!” 

Sidon stared at the children in front of him for a moment who were staring apprehensively back at him. He spat out a laugh suddenly, and without realizing it, his mind was taken back to a time before he could even call Link his, when the Hylian offered up an accidental pun that had them both rolling on the floor. 

Dare he say it, but Sidon thought that this was his favorite Father’s Day Card to date. 

“The inside is worse,” Mipha snickered stiffly, her lips puckering up in a smile.

Sidon did so curiously and his smile fell again,

 

_ For a fintabulous father, _

_ Love, _

_ Nami, Rho, Cado, Mipha, and Tipf _

 

“Oh sweet Hylia it is worse,” Sidon droned once he read the card out loud. Link was pounding his fist against the arm of his throne, face red from laughing so hard. He couldn’t even pretend to be irritated with the gift like he could with his husband’s ruthless dad jokes. Instead, he watched as Link rose to his feet, applauding Tipf for his good work.

“That’s fucking brilliant!” he cackled, pulling the boy in for a hug. 

“Erm, thank you sir!” Tipf said with wide eyes as the large fins on his back and head flared upward in what Sidon had figured out a while ago was the equivalent of a tail wag. 

“I agree,” Sidon chuckled, pulling everyone into a group hug, “I dare say we’ll have to frame this card with all the others!”

“There are...others?” Tipf asked.

“Pops frames all of his cards since they’re full of such bad puns,” Rho explained.

“They aren’t bad, they’re genius,” Link snarked dryly.

“They’re pretty bad, My Love,” Sidon rolled his eyes.

“Genius!”

“But my card is more genius,” Sidon grinned, feeling on top of the world.

He couldn’t have been more honored that his children would want to throw a party for them on Father’s Day. But truly, with children like them, every single day might as well have been Father’s Day.


	11. Grounded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the kids get too reckless Sidon has no choice but to detain them and leave them under his father's careful watch. 
> 
> Not like Dorephan has any problem with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was requested by two anons that wanted different variations of Grandpa Dorephan bonding time! Mipha's around 13, Cado's 16, Rho is 17 and Nami is somewhere in her mid 20's her actual age still eludes me

In his old age, Dorephan was both proud and grateful of the fact that his son had risen to become such a confident and capable leader that he could take a few days to himself and allow Sidon to rule the kingdom. 

He also couldn’t help but chuckle at how overprotective of a father that boy could be. 

When Sidon grumpily steered Mipha and Cado into his quarters, pinching them each by the ears, the king could only chuckle to himself, not at all surprised when his son grumbled, “Father, I hate to request this of you on your day off, but would you be so kind as to keep these children out of trouble? Apparently, they are not old enough to run off without supervision.” 

“Dad, I’m fine!” Mipha protested. 

“Only because our sister was kind enough to use her powers to heal that awful gash you acquired,” Sidon snapped back. “And you, young man! You should know better than to encourage your sister to climb those rocks after a rainfall!” 

“I wasn’t...encouraging her!” Cado protested, “She wanted to go out and I was belaying--ow!”

The only thing that kept Dorephan from laughing at the way Sidon gave a firm tug on his younger son’s ear was the pointed snarl Sidon was wearing.

“As I was saying, father, I apologize for the inconvenience but Link will be back later today and I’d rather not spend more time worrying about my children’s recklessness when I should be focusing on our kingdom!” Sidon’s tongue had a kind of venom in it that reminded Dorephan so much of himself that he couldn’t bite back a laugh this time, even when he received a pointed glare from his son and grandchildren. 

“...does this mean were grounded?” Mipha dared to ask, though something in her gaze told the old Zora that she knew her question didn’t need an answer. 

“Well considering that you cannot prove to me that you are capable of doing as I ask and staying out of trouble then yes!” Sidon snarled. “Papa and I will be discussing the terms of your punishment when he gets home and until then I expect you to stay here and out of harm's way. Am I clear?”

“But, Dad, we didn’t mean to barge in on your meeting, I just needed Nami to--ow!” Mipha’s pleas were cut short when Sidon gave her a gentle tug on the ear as well.

“Am I clear?” He said again. 

Mipha and Cado exchanged glances from either side of their Dad, before they eventually deflated and sighed, “Yes, Dad.”

“Good,” Sidon sighed, releasing them both before he looked up at Dorephan and said, “Again, I really am sorry for troubling you, Father, I just need some time to finish my business without fear of being interrupted by one panicked child telling me that another is bleeding out in the hallway!”

Sidon glared down his children with a gaze that only a worried father could muster and with an about face, a few words of gratitude to Dorephan, Sidon was gone. Cado and Mipha were standing comically at Dorephan’s feet ready to throw a fit. 

“This sucks!” Mipha finally snarled, stamping her foot on the ground. “I’m thirteen! I know how to handle myself! It was just a scratch! Papa’s gotten much worse!” 

“Yeah, and you don’t see Dad putting shackles on him!” Cado agreed. “I didn’t want to interrupt him, but--what, was I supposed to let you bleed out for the sake of not interrupting his meeting!? Sheesh!”

“I don’t think comparing your injuries to your father’s is the wisest of ideas, my sweet children,” Dorephan chuckled. “Believe me, the only thing that keeps Sidon from putting Link on a leash is his duty to Hyrule. And besides, it’s not his fear of being interrupted to aid his injured daughter that bothered him, it’s his fear that you two would go out again to pull the same stunt only for the both of you to end up with even worse injuries.”

“We wouldn’t do that, Grandpa!” Mipha protested. 

Dorephan gave the girl a pointed glare and he watched as she looked down, pouting as her ears drooped and Cado whined as he admitted, “...we would totally do that.” 

“Indeed,” Dorephan chuckled, “Now, your father doesn’t act out of malice, only out of love and you two know that, right? He just wants his children to be safe, especially if he can’t protect his husband.”

“Yes, Grandpa,” the two children said in unison, Mipha a little more reluctantly than Cado. 

Dorephan shook his head, grinning, “On the bright side I could think of worse punishments than to spend an afternoon with Grandpa.”

Mipha and Cado exchanged glances with each other, small grins quickly forming on their faces and before Dorephan was prepared for it, Mipha ran up to him and scaled up his arm until she was perched contently on his shoulder, asking, “So what are you working on!?”

“Oh, just another old painting my dear child,” Dorephan explained, noting how Cado curiously approached him as well. It didn’t take long for the two youngest royal siblings to start offering their input and asking to add splashes of color to the canvas. Not exactly what the king had planned in his mind’s eye, but oh so welcomed nonetheless. Afterall, his hobby produced the greatest of pieces when a little love was added to it. 

Plus, if he was keeping his reckless grandchildren out of danger and sparing his son of the heart attacks he had caused Dorephan himself once upon a time (and on occasion in the present day, if he were so bold to add) then he was happy to borrow Mipha’s and Cado’s artistic talent any day of the week. 

The three were all smiles for several hours before a rather irritated Minami stomped into the room.

“Nami!” Cado and Mipha both greeted. Nami gave a gruff snort that reminded Dorephan so much of Sidon he couldn’t keep from laughing. 

“You seem rather displeased, Little One,” Dorephan noted. “You didn’t get into an argument with your father, did you?”

“No, I just...I don’t...really want to talk about it,” Nami huffed, plopping down in one of the plush chairs Dorephan left for any family member that happened to stroll by to visit. 

Mipha was draped over Dorephan’s shoulder, her legs kicking gently as she snickered, “Did you get in trouble too?”

“No!” Nami spat in a tone that indicated to her grandfather and her siblings that she most definitely got in trouble. 

Cado let out a cackle, “What’d you do!?”

“Nothing, Cado!”

“Awwww, the future Queen of the Zora? Grounded?” Mipha sneered.

“Can it, Mipha!” Nami snarled, letting out a growl. 

Dorephan tried hard to keep from laughing at little Minami, he really did. 

“Dad didn’t even escort you, how bad was it?” Cado asked, leaning against Dorephan’s leg. Nami shrunk further into her seat. “That bad, huh?”

“It’s not that bad, I’m  _ fine _ ,” Nami retorted. 

“Well what did you do!?”

Eyeing a few residual nicks and bruises that were of familiar sizes and shapes and glowing that distinct green, Dorephan had a feeling he knew exactly what the girl did, “...you went after a Lynel, didn’t you?”

The way Nami bit her lip as her cheeks turned red, sinking into her seat, both of which only deepened at the cheering of her siblings told Dorephan all he needed to know. 

“Grandpa!” Nami looked up at Dorephan in distress, “They weren’t supposed to know!”

“Oh,” Dorephan looked down at Cado and Miph who were definitely getting ideas. 

Oops.

“Well, I’ll take the blame for that one, child, no sense in getting you into more trouble than you are,” Dorephan shrugged. 

“Well, since we already know that you fought a Lynel, why don’t you just spill the details?” Cado asked inquisitively. When Nami was resistant to sharing, her younger brother ran up and pounced on her lap. As Nami recoiled from the impact, Cado insisted, “C’mooooon! Share with the class!”

“I!” Nami looked around the room, her eyes darting up to Dorephan who merely shrugged. 

“I’m just an old man with a hobby, I’m not listening,” he said, grinning at the way Nami’s eyes sparkled as Mipha slid down Dorephan’s arm and sat eagerly in front of her sister. 

“Okay!” Nami grinned. “So Dad asked me to take a small squad to inspect our eastern borders, right?”

“Yeah,” Mipha and Cado leaned forward. Had they been Zora Dorephan was certain their tales would wag faster than the eye could see. 

“So...there was this Lynel,” Nami shrugged, leaning back. “And...this is going to sound weird but I swear I’ve seen this Lynel before.”

“How is that weird?” Mipha asked.

“Because this Lynel is just. He’s just weird! He like follows you around and causes mass mayhem and then like...leaves, but you never know if he’s going to hurt someone in the process or not” Nami insisted. “I’ve only seen it once. Dad and Pops used to swear they were stalked by it before they got married. It’s weird. Anyway! So it was there annnnd it was really dangerously close to my squad. Soooo…”

“You charged it and it kicked the crap out of you, I’m guessing.” This time it was Rhonin’s voice the spoke, his arms folded over himself as he leaned against the doorway.

“Yeah pretty much,” Nami said, deadpan. “What did you do?”

Instead of answering her, Rho looked around before asking Dorephan with a bemused smile, “Is your study the detainment cell?”

“It would seem so, My Boy,” Dorephan chuckled. “Don’t tell me you got yourself into trouble as well?”

“No,” Rho shrugged. “Dad relieved me of my duties but...well, between Mipha slicing her arm open and Cado interrupting a meeting and Nami being rushed to the healers after charging a Lynel I didn’t really feel like giving him any more heart attacks today.”

“Oh har har, Little Brother,” Nami reclined in her chair. “We didn’t give him a heart attack, he was just overreacting!”

“I wouldn’t call him having to run to the emergency healers twice in one day overreacting,” Rhonin shrugged. 

“I have healing powers, Little Dude,” Nami waved her brother off. “It’s fine.”

“Now, Minami,” Dorephan felt the need to halt the child there. “You may have inherited the Grace of your Aunt but I wouldn’t be so arrogant about it.”

Nami’s head flitted up to him and she started to say something in her defense. He watched as the eldest Princess settled herself down, her eyes warm and inviting of his wisdom. 

“You remember the first time you healed someone, do you not?” Dorephan asked. Minami stared down at her lap before answering.

“It was...well, Dad was technically the first person,” she nodded. “And then a young soldier.”

“Yes, and you were but a small child, barely old enough to claim you were no longer a hatchling,” Dorephan added. “And it exhausted you to the point you nearly collapsed right there in that room and your Papa had to put you to bed. You didn’t wake again until afternoon the next day.”

“No, Grandfather, I did not,” Nami agreed. The way she responded told Dorephan that she had to have heard this lecture many times before. Still, hearing it from your grandfather was always a little different from hearing it from your parents and she kept her head bowed.

“Your Grace allows you to heal even the deepest of wounds, but it still comes with a price,” Dorephan continued. “It costs energy. It exhausts you if you overuse it. You could wind up doing more harm than good, even with a power that heals, should you get reckless and arrogant with it.”

“Yes, Grandpa,” Nami nodded. Dorephan’s eyes flitted over to the other three children who were no staring at their sister with wide eyes.

“And you three!” Dorephan added, garnering their attention. “You can’t always count on your eldest sister to be around to heal you. It took Cado interrupting an important meeting with the elders today for Mipha to get the help that she needs. What if something happens and one of you are all the way to Gerudo Desert and nowhere near her aid? What will become of you then?”

He watched as the three - even Rhonin, though he had been smart enough to keep out of trouble that day - bowed their heads.

“Do you see why your fathers would be so concerned, Little Ones?” Dorephan asked, his voice soft. The four children nodded their heads, and Mipha was the first to speak.

“I’m sorry, Nami,” she apologized, leaning against her sister’s leg. Nami grinned widely, running her claws through her little sister’s hair.

“It’s fine,” she shrugged. “Even though you may or may not choose to listen to Grandpa, I’ll always do what I can to help you.”

“And Cado won’t let you go rock climbing after the rains!” Rhonin teased, causing his younger brother’s ears to turn bright red.

“I’m not going to let her go out without a harness, you idiot!” Cado snapped back. “And maybe if you weren’t so high and mighty all the time we could have found something productive and  _ safe _ to do while Dad and Nami were in that meeting!” 

“Like groom our horses,” Mipha offered.

“Like groom our horses!” Cado shouted. 

Rho merely stared at his brother and younger sisters, quirking an eyebrow before he shrugged, “I’m not really into fooling around with kids.”

“I’M ONE YEAR YOUNGER, RHO!” 

“I’m just teasing!” Rhonin broke out into a smile before he strode forward to clap Cado on the shoulder and pull Mipha onto her feet and into a hug. “But seriously, Mipha, Ava needs a bath really bad.”

“Yeah, I knoooow,” Mipha rolled her eyes as Cado snapped, “Oh I didn’t realize you had a sense of humor!” 

“You still haven’t washed her?” Nami cringed. “Mipha!”

“I’ll get to it!” Mipha snapped back. “Eventually!”

Dorephan was so amused by the childrens’ banter that he didn’t bother to inform them that their parents had wandered into the room. He exchanged a look with Sidon and Link both, knowing his sentiment that they should probably go easy on the three had gotten through. Taking in a breath, it was Link who stopped them: “Eventually, is going to be  _ tomorrow _ , Mipha!”

“Papaaaaa!” Mipha jerked up to attention, peering from behind Rhonin nervously. Dorephan watched in amusement as Rho tried to step out of the line of fire as his younger sister merely tried to scoot with him and use him as a Hylian shield. 

“You  _ still _ haven’t washed Ava?” Sidon balked. “It’s been over a week since we asked you to at this point!”

“I was...going to do it today!” Mipha shrugged nervously.

“No, no, don’t give me any of that,” Sidon quipped back at her. “If you were going to do it today then you should have done that first thing in the morning instead of going up those cliffs, young lady.”

Link ran his hand over his face and sighed heavily before signing, “I’ll go with her tomorrow to the stable. We’ll take care of it then.”

“R-really?” Mipha asked hesitantly, giving a hopeful smile.

“Yes, really,” Link signed as he walked up to her, “But this is your only warning. I told you when we got her that if you thought you were mature enough to take care of a horse then you had to prove it to me.”

“I’ve done everything else just fine…” Mipha looked down, her cheeks getting red. Link glanced back up at Sidon who heaved a sigh and gave a bit of a smile. The elder Hylian then wrapped his arms around his youngest in a hug.

“Yes you have, you’re right,” Link said aloud before pulling out of the hug and signing to continue, “But imagine if you needed someone to help you bathe and they made you wait two weeks on accident.”

“I’m sorry,” Mipha pouted. Link merely chuckled.

“Just give her some extra apples tomorrow and she’ll forgive you,” Link teased. He then looked up at the other two that had been grounded and signed, “So...we have a sliced open arm, an accomplice, and a Lynel charger…” Link’s eyes danced over to Rho who was now sharing the plush seat with Nami to his older sister’s annoyance and asked, “Did you do anything?”

“Rhonin is unscathed thankfully,” Sidon sighed as Rhonin shrugged, “I got bored and wanted to hang out with Gramps.”

“Oh geez,” Link ran another hand over his face. “You kids can’t keep doing this.”

The trio immediately erupted into their defense platforms with everything ranging from “I didn’t want my squad to get hurt” to “There’s a rare species of frog that Aunt Zelda told me about that only comes out after rainfall and I wanted to find it” to “If Mipha was going to get herself killed I didn’t want her to be alone”. They were abruptly stopped when Link held up his hand. 

“Do you know what your Dad said to me when we were walking over here?” Link signed, his gaze firm. “He said, ‘I’m just thankful that they’re alive’.”

All four children bowed their heads at that. 

“Do you know how awful that feels?” Link signed sternly. “Do fear for your own child’s life? And when they’re putting themselves in danger! I mean, seriously, you guys, I don’t know where you get it from but I--”

Link was cut off by Dorephan’s accidental scoff.

“Dad,” Sidon grimaced, his arms crossed.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Dorephan apologized. “It’s just that I agreed with everything except for that last part. You don’t know where they got it from? Look at you two! You can’t honestly expect to preach at them about personal safety and have them  _ follow _ your rules when you can’t even put that into practice!”

Link flinched under Dorephan’s gaze, his ears flitting downwards and the old king almost felt bad for embarrassing him in front of his children. 

Almost. 

“Link, as the Hero of Hyrule and Zelda’s personal knight I understand why you need to go to your Queen’s aide,” Dorephan waved his hand a little for emphasis, “But to come home with the dastardly scars that you do every time you leave this place! And then talk about it like it is nothing! Your husband is constantly worried sick about you to the point that he feels he has to tighten the reigns to the point he’s sending your eldest to me for defending her men from a Lynel!”

At that, Minami perked up, “...soooo am I in trouble then or…?”

“Not now,” Dorephan barked and the princess piped up and slunk so far into her seat that half of her body was now hanging off of it. 

His eyes darting from Link to the children and back again, Sidon carefully offered, “Maybe...this is a conversation for a different time then.”

“No, I think this is the perfect time, actually,” Dorephan retorted. “Because you two are experiencing what many would call Karma.”

“Father--”

“Don’t think you were going to get away without me bringing up that Octorok, young man,” Dorephan said pointedly. 

“You mean that giant one that dad slayed from the inside out?” Nami asked, perking back up into a proper sitting position as she raised her arm to mimic the motion of holding a spear. 

“Okay, Dad,” Sidon ducked his head in embarrassment and Dorephan gave a hearty chuckle as his son added, “Let’s not give the kids ideas now, please?”

“Wait,” Cado asked with sparkling eyes, “What Octorok?”

“They don’t teach you that at your school!?” Nami leaned forward, astounded. “Duuuude! That’s like the first history lesson I got! So there was this, like, this  _ gigantic Octorok _ that just inhaled Dad whole and--!”

“Alright, Minami!” Sidon groaned. “Enough!” 

“It’s a cool story,” Nami defended, with a shrug.

“It is a really cool story,” Link added with a small voice.

“Okay well then when our children aren’t literally trying to get their arms cut off or get maimed by a Lynel then maybe we can tell it to them one day,” Sidon retorted.

“Well...Nami already knows that story…” Rhonin muttered. 

“I think we’re getting off track here,” Sidon huffed, his gills flaring out.

“My point was, Link, Sidon,” Dorephan said finally, “Your concerns? Valid. Your punishment? Fair. But if you would prefer that they not endanger themselves so frequently, might I suggest that you do me a small favor and look after yourselves a little more? After all, that leaves me worrying about all six of you.”

Link and Sidon exchanged glances for a moment before they both smiled in agreement. “You’re right, Father,” Sidon said finally. “Perhaps we can all learn from this day and make a pledge for us to all be a little safer, look after each other better. And not put Nami’s powers through the ringer.”

“It’s a deal!” Mipha grinned, running up to Sidon to give him a hug. Nami quickly followed with the boys behind her as the family drew into a hug and Dorephan waited for Sidon to wrap his long arms around the others before he scooped them up himself, everyone laughing. 

“Here’s to turning over a new leaf, Kids,” Link giggled. 

Sidon gave his husband an affectionate peck on the cheek before asking, “This applies to you too, Link.”

“I know!” 

“Pops, if you don’t listen to Dad, Cado and I will tell Aunt Zelda,” Rhonin warned as his brother nodded in agreement. 

Link’s cheeks paled drastically as Sidon merely grinned with pride and said, “My boys…”

“Now,” Dorephan chuckled. “If there’s anything that  _ I _ don’t get it’s where  _ you two _ get your reckless behavior from!”

Nami giggled in agreement, “I still can’t believe Dad let an Octorok swallow him.”

“I can’t believe an Octorok was even big enough to swallow him,” Rhonin added.

Sidon glared fiercely at a smug Dorephan. However, the king’s smile dropped when his son retaliated: “Kids, did I ever tell you about the time your grandfather threw a Guardian off a cliff?”

“HE DID WHAT!?”

“Oh yeah, nearly got his face sliced open!”

“Sidon, you’re being overdramatic!”

“Normally, yes, but that scar on your head is as gnarly as ever, Dad!”


	12. Grandpa Slide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minami has an idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soooo this was requested by anonymous a WHILE ago to the point where I couldn't find it initially and since I haven't updated anything in over a week I thought I would dig this one up and show you all the wonders of how Grandpa Slide started since I reference it so much XD 
> 
> Tis but a small drabble but I hope you enjoy!

“Is this alright?” Dorephan asked, standing over the East Reservoir. Goddess Above, if Sidon knew that they had taken an accidental side quest through Shatterback point  because Nami had originally wanted to go to Mikaku Lake before they realized that only she could submerge in water, he would not be allowed to babysit ever again.

“Yeah,” Nami grinned, her legs kicking freely as she sat atop his shoulder. “This is fine.”

“May I ask why you originally did not want to go to the reservoir?” 

“Because I’m testing a theory and I don’t want Jeori stealing my ideas!” Nami pouted, her cheeks puffing out slightly. “I thought she would be here.”

“Well if you idea involves me I highly doubt she would be able to,” Dorephan chuckled. “Though I will say I’ve enjoyed the extra quality time that our journey earned us.”

“And that Lynel was so cool!” Nami added. “I don’t know why Dad is so scared of it.”

“Oh dear,” Dorephan rubbed his hand over his head. Sidon was not going to be pleased with him. “I think that might be because he is nowhere near my height, sweet Minami. If you were not with me I can imagine that Lynel would be much less docile.”

“Oh,” Nami nodded. She hummed for a moment before suddenly asking, “Grandpa?”

“Yes my dear?”

“Will Daddy get as big as you one day?”

“Oh well that depends, sweetheart,” Dorephan shrugged. “For many generations the Zora royal family has inherited a rare trait that causes its members to increase to a great size. Your grandmother didn’t have the blood ties to my family as she hailed from a different clan, so I suppose it just depends on how much he takes after me.”

“It would be funny if he does,” Nami mused, giggling. “Then I’d have a big dad and a tiny dad.”

Dorephan could not contain his boisterous laughter at his grandchild’s adorable honesty and the visual that accompanied it. He smiled as Nami rattled on about her day as they entered the lake, and Dorephan was about to flip onto his back to enjoy some floating but Nami stopped him: “Wait!”

“Hm?”

“Stay here fora sec,” Nami ordered, standing on her feet. 

“Minami, what are you–” Dorephan started but his granddaughter’s cheering cut him off.

“GRANDPA SLIIIIIDE!” she screamed, leaping off his shoulder and bouncing along Dorephan’s chest and belly as if it were a water slide. She flew off a few feet before she hit the water and landed with a small splash. Dorephan hadn’t realized that he had flinched from the sudden tickling sensation until he finally relaxed. Nami’s little head popped out of the water as she resurfaced, screaming she was laughing so hard. 

Dorephan broke out into his own chuckles, his tail swaying to and from his back creating gentle waves in the reservoir “Goodness me, little one!”

Nami grinned up at him, her wagging tail splashing the water around her, “I thought it would be fun to use you as a water slide because your so big and it’s so fun to sit on your shoulder so I wanted to try it!”

Dorephan smiled, scooping the child into his hand and holding her up to his face. “So was your theory correct?”

Nami responded by running up to him and pressing her tiny forehead against his. “It was! I love you, Grandpa!” 


	13. Hide and Seek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A favorite family game gives Sidon a bit of a headache when two mischievous members of his family figure out a way to cheat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was actually one of the very first requests that I ever got but because it wasn't in my request folder on my drive I almost forgot about it. BUT! It's so freaking adorable and one of my favorite ones so. Enjoy! 
> 
> This came from a lovely anon that wanted to see Nami and Link playing hide and seek with Sidon (featuring Grandpa Dorephan!)

King Dorephan had always been a more quiet, reserved person behind the crown and the throne than his people realized. His son took much after him in that regard, so it wasn’t uncommon that the two chose to keep to themselves when they were off duty more often than not. There were no hard feelings or malice in that, there never had been. Dorephan had his hobbies that he had been able to return to once Sidon reached adulthood, and Sidon was caught up in the high energy and business of being a prince dedicated to his people just as Dorephan had once. 

However, despite how content the father and son had been with their lives before, Dorephan had to admit that he hadn’t been more grateful for anything than he was for the day that Sidon brought little Minami home completely convinced that he was merely a babysitter. His overzealousness and weakness for cute children had certainly sealed the boy’s fate and Dorephan was surprised that Sidon didn’t realize then that the child he had been clumsily chasing after was fated to be his daughter. 

A much more shocking, yet still welcomed surprise had been the addition of Link to the family as well. Dorephan knew not the conversations that darling Mipha had had with Link about her feelings. All he knew was that he had once struggled to understand how the Hylian champion could be so wholeheartedly devoted and emotionally connected to the Zora princess yet still manage to keep their relationship purely platonic. But that understanding came later when he saw the way Sidon looked to Link, that familiar glint in his child’s eye, and then he saw the way Link looked up to Sidon, the way Link smiled a little broader, smoothed down his hair a little more, sent frequent letters, paid extra attention to Minami, even the way his occasional phrases and vocalizations became more chipper, more confident, more expressive. He saw all that, and suddenly, Dorephan knew.

Dorephan had smiled to himself, watching the way his son would visibly swoon at even some of Link’s more barbaric behaviors, silently putting all those pieces together from when he would watch Sidon as a child. He remembered the way Sidon anxiously huddled over Mipha’s shoulder watching her work on the armor. He remembered the way Sidon, so energetic as a boy, would tackle Link to the ground in his excitement, his eyes glittering as Link and Mipha taught him sign language, the way he would hang onto Link’s tunic dragging behind the young Hylian as he tried to leave the Domain to rejoin his father. Dorephan had always suspected that Sidon’s behavior was rooted in a little more than idolization, but watching the two boys come together now as young and capable men placed missing pieces of a puzzle together, and watching them say their vows whilst bathed in moonlight had warmed Dorephan’s old heart to tears. 

And he loved every moment ever since. He loved that the young family had relocated their quarters to fit the three of them (and hopefully a few more) inside the palace as opposed to one of the small apartments attached to it, and he loved that he could hear the soft noises of the family’s mornings and evenings echo through the halls and bring the quiet palace back to life once again.

He especially loved watching little Minami run both Sidon and Link down to exhaustion with her boundless energy. 

Aside from the fact that Dorephan could watch his son repay the debt he owed from being an aggressive and energetic child as well, the king particularly enjoyed the fact that Nami could see the palace from an entirely different set of eyes than any royal child that came before her. It was not a place that she had grown up in; it was a new setting for her, and as a result she had made use of it as her own personal playground in ways that not even Sidon had come up with as a boy. 

What was especially intuitive of little Minami was how she figured that she could camouflage with the palace walls about as easily as she could in the water. At first, it had caused Sidon a great fright, but Link quickly devolved the phenomenon into a game that he had played when he was a child in Hateno Village. Hide and Seek, it was called, and it became a staple of the family’s evenings. 

The best part of it all, was while Link and Minami were excellent at climbing the walls and quietly running to different locations to keep the hunt going, Sidon was absolutely terrible at Hide and Seek. The boy’s crimson scales and massive height compared to his husband and child made him a walking target, and what Sidon failed to realize for the longest time was that the other two were consistently changing locations while he would stay put. 

What Sidon also didn’t realize for quite some time was that Dorephan himself had become a hiding spot. 

Dorephan would also help the other two find the optimal spot if he wasn’t in a place where he could easily conceal them. 

And Goddess above, did he love it.

While Sidon could be a good sport about always being the first one found, it didn’t take much for Sidon to get really frustrated when he was the one that started out seeking. And as much as Dorephan loved his son, he couldn’t keep from laughing at how overly competitive Sidon was with the game, especially considering how horrible he was at playing it. 

Dorephan was in his study, sitting on the floor while working on a painting when he heard the familiar pitter patter of Nami’s steps, followed by her soft giggles. 

“Oh? Is it that time?” Dorephan asked, but he was quickly shushed by his granddaughter. 

“Quick, Grandpa! Daddy’s just down the hall!” Nami said, clambering over his massive leg. 

“Oh!” Dorephan nodded, “Well in that case come sit with me, I doubt he’ll come all the way over here.”

Nami nestled in by Dorephan’s free hand and covered her mouth, trying to keep from giggling. Dorephan smiled to himself when a few moments later, Sidon came stomping into his study grumbling to himself.

“I swear those two must’ve left the damn palace or something,” Sidon spat to himself. “This is outrageous! There needs to be some boundaries set for this foolish game…”

“Oh come now, you’re just saying that because you can’t hide or seek to save your life,” Dorephan rumbled, chuckling to himself. He heard Nami snickering below him, but she clamped her mouth shut to be quiet. 

“Oh, well if this game is so easy then you can go look for your granddaughter and son-in-law!” Sidon snapped back, baring his teeth in irritation.

“I would but I am working diligently on a painting, you see,” Dorephan huffed. “It’s tedious work.”

“Not as tedious as chasing after the two heathens all day,” Sidon grumbled. 

“You’re the one that wanted to marry and father those two,” Dorephan pointed out, “‘Chasing after them’ simply comes with the territory.”

At that, Sidon heaved a sigh and smiled, taking a few steps towards Dorephan to lean against the king’s leg. Dorephan stiffened, his hand instinctively zipping downward to conceal Nami a little better as his son walked directly into her line of sight.

“I suppose you are right, Father,” Sidon smiled. “And I do enjoy it, I just wish I was a little...better at this, you know?”

“Oh,” Dorephan grunted, clearing his throat. “Yes, mm, yes indeed, my boy.”

His stiffness didn’t go unnoticed by his ever attentive son, and Sidon looked up at him, “Are you alright, Father?”

“Of course I am! Why do you ask?” Dorephan coughed. Sidon narrowed his gaze, but thankfully misplaced his nerves for unwellness.

“You aren’t coming down with a Stiffness, are you?” Sidon asked, his face marring with worry at the thought of the king contracting a virus that elderly Zora were susceptible to. “You didn’t get a vaccination this year and you look unusually tense.”

“I’ll have you know that I am in no such shape that would result in me getting an old fool’s disease!” Dorephan snarked back, feeling mightily offended. “I’m old but not that old!”

“Mmhmm,” Sidon hummed, tipping his head. “Then why do you look so anxious?”

“I know not what you speak of,” Dorephan grumbled. Sidon heaved a sigh at that, unmoving for a moment before Dorephan pointed out, “Don’t you have a few missing family members you need to find?”

At  _ that _ , Sidon glared up at his father suspiciously, but said nothing as he turned to leave. Dorephan was silent as he listened while his son walked in circles for a moment, checking every crevice both within the study and outside of it, but he couldn’t look to see if Sidon had actually left without looking suspicious, so he kept to his painting. He heard Sidon’s footsteps become distant, assuming that the prince was gone before he sighed and said to Nami, “I think the coast is clear.”

“Phew! Thanks Grandpa!” 

In one fowl swoop, Sidon jumped down from the rafters above suddenly, startling the king and his granddaughter, and snatched Nami into his arms. “A _ ha! _ I  _ knew _ you were hiding her!” 

Dorephan could only gasp, staring at the boy and feeling nothing more than betrayal, “I cannot believe that my own son would trick me into thinking that he had left only to climb the rafters!”

“And I cannot believe my own father would hide my child from me!” Sidon retorted, tucking a squirming Minami under his arm. “And what do you mean by trick!? You were just telling me how bad I was at this game a moment ago!”

“Yeah, but that didn’t mean that you needed to wise up so fast,” Dorephan pouted. “It’s quite entertaining watching you aimlessly wander the halls without thinking to do something like that.”

He received a well-earned glare from his son and could only smile back in return. Shaking his head, Sidon was quite bad at pretending that he was actually angry as he readjusted Minami in his arms and lectured, “Nami, you can’t use Grandpa to hide, that’s cheating!”

“Since when?” Nami whined. 

“Since he’s apparently your accomplice now,” Sidon chided. “You’ve got to give your old man some kind of break at least.”

“Okaaaay,” Nami groaned, leaning backwards overdramatically in Sidon’s arms. Sidon chuckled at her, smiling as he set her down and took her hand. 

“Alright, let’s go find Papa now,” he said. 

“I’ll go check the west wing!” Nami cheered, “Sometimes he hides under the floorboards!”

Dorephan laughed out loud as he watched a look of horror and confusion ripple across his son’s expression as he cried out, “He what!? Minami, wait!”

With that, the two zora took off running, shaking his head.

Though he had to admit, he was quite upset that Sidon would declare using him to hide was cheating.

...but it was only cheating if Sidon could find her…

Dorephan hummed in contentment, vowing to help his granddaughter acquire only the best of hiding places, cheating or not. He raised his brush again but paused, feeling something lean up against his side. 

Dorephan looked down and saw the small, blond head of one Hylian son-in-law look up at him.

“Thanks,” Link said aloud, stepping out from behind Dorephan. Raising a brow, the king stopped the boy in his tracks, scooping him up into one hand. 

“And what do you think you are doing?” Dorephan asked. 

“Hiding?” Link shrugged.

“Your husband said using me as an accomplice was cheating, you know,” Dorephan snickered.

Link’s smile fell and he stared at Dorephan with suspicion. Carefully, he lifted his hands and signed, “You hid Nami.”

“Oh that’s right, I did do that,” Dorephan smiled. Chuckling he turned his head and called out, “SIDOOOON! I FOUND LINK!”

There was an indistinct crash followed by Nami’s shrieks of laughter and Sidon yelling something that ended with him referring to Link as a cheating bastard. Laughing at the ruckus, Dorephan looked back at Link who was now staring at Dorephan as if he had revealed him to a band of killers, he looked so hurt. 

Even funnier, as Sidon’s footsteps drew nearer and Link realized that Sidon wasn’t letting him make a break for it, the Hylian’s expression just contorted in even more distress as he cried out, “Why!?”

He couldn’t help himself, the king smiled, “I only assist the little one.”

“That’s cruel.”

“No, that’s called being a grandpa, my boy.”


	14. The King and Queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Queen Nerrissa adjusts to life as a royal, King Dorephan expresses some concerns that have long played the royal family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Requested by an anon that wanted some interactions between young King Dorephan and the lovely shark lady that I've envisioned to be his wife!

If there was one thing that Nerrissa would never get used to, it was the way that the men she once fought alongside and would engage in strength contest with on evenings in the barracks would now bow to her as she passed them, respectfully greeting, “Your Majesty.”

It sent shivers up her spine, and the young queen growled. 

For fuck’s sake, she had a crown on her head that didn’t make her some prissy little royal now. Granted, that is exactly what her mother-in-law wanted but…

Honestly, it didn’t matter how many dinners Nerrissa sat through, she would never get the hang of this.

Nerrissa was grumbling to herself as she ripped the adornments off of her fins and her scalloped cephalofoil. She paused for a moment, staring at her reflection in the vanity. Her golden eyes were too sharp and too bloodshot to look kindly to royal visitors and diplomats without intimidating them. Her teeth and claws were sharp enough to tear into the flesh of her enemies, not that of a well-cooked steak. Her general height and stature was...well…

It was fit for a warrior, not a queen. 

Sighing to herself, Nerrissa bit back a growl. Did she regret marrying the love of her life? Absolutely not. She would do it again in a heartbeat and gratefully wear the crown and play the part of dignified queen if it meant staying at Dorephan’s side for the rest of her days. Did that mean she was any less overwhelmed? Not in the slightest. 

She did have to admit that, as stressful as the expectations laid out for her were, Nerrissa definitely preferred being referred to as “Queen Nerrissa” instead of “Princess Nerrissa” now. She missed her father-in-law dearly and she knew that the weight she felt on her shoulders was easily double that of Dorephan’s but...the expectations of maintaining a prissy regal air about her had definitely been lifted slightly since the coronation.

She watched in the mirror as the door opened slightly and Dorephan slipped into their quarters, his bright eyes heavy with exhaustion. 

“Everything alright?” Nerrissa called out to him. Dorephan let out some kind of grumbling noise as he drug himself forward, wrapping his arms around Nerrissa’s shoulders. The queen leaned back against his chest, sighing in content. Dorephan stared directly into the mirror, though his eyes clearly weren’t registering his own reflection. Even his crown was lopsided on his head a little. “What ails you, my Pearl?”

Dorephan puffed his cheeks out a little and groaned again, as if he weren’t sure how to put words to the question that he finally got out: “Am I...getting larger?”

“What?” Nerrissa guffawed, holding back a laugh. Dorephan pitifully released Nerrissa and took a step backwards as he stared down at the ground, shuffling his feet while the queen rose and stared the king down. “What on earth are you talking about?”

Dorephan looked up hesitantly at Nerrissa. King or not, Nerrissa still found herself looking down on her husband. 

Literally.

No really, she was a full head taller than him. As was the fate of most Shark Zora. 

“I, uh…” Dorephan scratched at the back of his head, clearing his throat and noting, “I just...do I look taller to you?”

Nerrissa placed her hands on her hips and very bluntly stated, “Dearest, you have been a pipsqueak for as long as I’ve known you, hardly a thing has changed in the last fifty years we’ve been together.”

“Ha ha, very funny,” Dorephan grumbled rolling his eyes. He folded his arms and cringed, “I just...I feel like I might be getting larger? And...Nerrissa, I’m really worried.”

“About what?” Nerrissa almost scoffed.

“That I’m going to be as large as my father one day!”

“Well of course you are,” Nerrissa blinked several times, wondering why this was even a question. “Dorephan, every member of your family has grown to be the size of a house, you’re not an exception to his rule.”

“But Nerrissa!” Dorephan’s eyes nearly popped out of his head he was so nervous, “What if I can’t hold our children!? What if I can’t hold our grandchildren!? What if we have a daughter and I can’t walk her down the isle when she’s grown because I’m so large and fat and--”

“Dorephan!” Nerrissa smacked her hand to her face, “First of all, I don’t know why you’re planning our hypothetical daughter’s wedding already and secondly, I don’t see why you’re worried about being too large to hold our hypothetical children when you’re shorter than  _ me _ !” 

Dorephan let out a disgruntled growl, kicking gently at the growl as he shrugged, “Okay, but I could very easily grow to be too large to hold our grandchildren…”

Nerrissa pursed her lips together, biting back the urge to shoot his worries down. Instead, she could only smile and shake her head, suggesting, “Let’s get ready for bed, hm?”

Reluctantly, Dorephan complied and they slid into their sleeping pool that night in silence. Nerrissa watched as her husband submerged himself until less than half his face was poking out of the water. Feeling her eyes squinting, Nerrissa noted, “You’re really worried about this, aren’t you.”

“Of course I’m worried about it!” Dorephan tilted his head back to his words weren’t muffled as his mouth came out of the water but he still shouted in distress. 

Sighing heavily, Nerrissa reached forward and wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck, nuzzling her forehead with his, purring. “I’m sorry, Dorephan,” she rumbled, “I don’t mean to sound insensitive I just...well, it’s inevitable and I was raised to--”

“Your clan raised you to never waste time worrying about the inevitable when it is bound to come, I know,” Dorephan chuckled, wrapping his arms around her waist. “It is quite silly of me to stress over this when I know it will come some day...it’s just...I spent my father’s last years of his life gradually watching him withdraw more and more from society, from his family, because he couldn’t see the point in engaging with people when he could literally cradle all of us in his hand…”

“I know, honey,” Nerrissa found herself planting soft kisses along Dorephan’s brow and the side of his fin until she was tracing his jawline with her lips and her teeth. She grinned to herself when she felt his rumbling purr from his throat, even as he continued to speak. 

“I don’t want to end up like that,” Dorephan sighed. “It’s the same thing my grandfather did, and his father before him and…”

“Dorephan,” Nerrissa hushed gently. “Just because you can’t control your family’s bloodline doesn’t mean you can’t control what you do with it. If you don’t want to be the king that withdraw himself and delegates everything to his first born, then don’t. If you want to be a father and grandfather that engages with his family no matter how tall he is, then that’s what you do.”

“But how?” Dorephan grumbled.

“Well, you’ve married a Shark Zora,” Nerrissa noted with a hint of sass laced in her voice. “Which means you’re probably going to wind up with at least one Shark Zora child and they’re probably going to have Shark Zora children and I don’t know if you’ve noticed but as children, we get our hands in literally everything.”

“Yes….” Dorephan noted with a frown.

“And with a grandpa the size of a house, I’d imagine that you would make the perfect jungle gym,” Nerrissa continued.

Dorephan was silent for a long moment. “Are you...suggesting that I reduce myself to a toy?”

“Well,” Nerrissa shrugged. “I mean just because you won’t be able to hold those closest to you like you normally would forever doesn’t mean you can’t find other ways to show affection. And as someone who loves having kids around as much as you do, I don’t see why you wouldn’t come up with something silly to compensate.”

“I suppose so…” Dorephan sighed, nuzzling his wife gently. Smiling to himself, Dorephan hummed, “Thank you, Nerrissa.”

“Of course, My Love,” Nerrissa purred. She paused for a moment before she snarked, “You know, I’m surprised you’re so worried about this…”

“And why is that?”

“Because as much as you complain about being shorter than me I thought you would be excited that your bloodline is going to help you way overcompensate for your complex down the road.”

“Nerrissa!”

“What? It’s true!”


End file.
